Gun amnesty planned by RCIPS with support of Rotary Club 

Commissioner of Police, Buel Braggs	David Kirkaldy, President elect Rotary Club Grand Cayman	Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines

The kind of firearms that could be recovered in a
weapons amnesty.

Monday,  June  20, 2005

In the wake of so many firearms incidents in the last several months, a number of people are now raising the issue of a possible gun amnesty. The Rotary Club of Grand Cayman’s president elect David Kirkaldy, has outlined that one of the Rotary’s goals for this year is to work along with the police and sponsor another gun amnesty by November in order to try and reduce the levels of gun crime. 

It is a very sensitive issue and although the gun amnesty will follow the same format as previous years, meetings are being organised between the Rotary Club, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police, to coordinate this joint effort,” said Mr Kirkaldy.
Rotary has sponsored a gun amnesty in the past and plans had been in the pipeline for another before Hurricane Ivan struck.

“The Royal Caymanian Police Service was looking to do a gun amnesty before the hurricane last year, but we never had the time since,” said the Commissioner of Police, Buel Braggs when asked to comment on the matter and he confirmed that Police along with the sponsors Rotary Club, will actually be conducting one around October or November this year, if not sooner.

“The gun amnesty will be conducted in the same manner as in the past, so there is little if any variation in the legal aspect of the venture,” added the Commissioner.

Although he could not give a confirmed figure on how many firearms were handed during previous amnesties, he noted that just a few weapons still makes the project worthwhile.

“Even if it was only two or three guns that were handed in, that will be two or three guns off the street that criminals could not get their hands on,” he said.

He also mentioned that the Deputy Commissioner, Rudy Dixon, will be reviewing current and new applications for firearms licenses and making the necessary amendments. 

The Commissioner is calling for every individual who deeply cares for the continued well-being and prosperity of our Islands to “do the right thing” and hand in their weapons to help in the fight against increasingly violent crime in the Cayman Islands.

An Amnesty offers residents the opportunity to turn in any illegal weapons or ammunition that they have in their possession or they know about to the designated people or place without fear of prosecution. Under normal circumstances a small reward is offered to those that bring the weapons to the designated site and it has been the Rotary Club that has found the money to finance the project. The RCIPS however is keen to encourage residents to hand in or inform the police about weapons even before the officially planned amnesty begins.

“There are also people out there who know of individuals who illegally possess guns,” added the Commissioner. “Turn them in or give us the information we need to deal with them. The public needs to get involved and work with the police to make the Cayman Islands a safer place.”

When Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Haines was asked to comment on the increase of firearm incidents recently he said:

“Despite a couple of firearm incidents last weekend, we are doing well, we are heading in the right direction.” 

Most of our neighboring islands and countries have embarked on similar gun amnesties from time to time and the statistics prove that it does have a positive impact on gun related incidents. Reducing the number of illegal arms in circulation can help to reduce violent crime, when it is hand in hand with building relationships between communities and the police, and delivering civic education about community safety which can counter the culture of violence.

According to Amnesty International: “The global arms trade is dangerously unregulated, and allows weapons to reach repressive governments, human rights abusers and criminals”. “Every day, millions of men, women, and children live in fear of armed violence. Every minute, one of them is killed.”

“Every government in the world has a responsibility to control arms. Civil society, police and governments need to work proactively and effectively together to address the problem of arms at every level.” 

The real ‘weapons of mass destruction’ are often described as the small arms, which continue to proliferate, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives. From the gangs of Kingston, Rio de Janeiro, and Los Angeles, to right here in the Cayman Islands, it is conventional arms that are used to do the killing. 

Research throughout the region, the United States and the UK suggests that amnesties only work however, when the amnesty is followed immediately by stiffer sentences for firearms possession and offences. If people know that there are tough punishments ahead, then they are more likely to want to turn their weapons in.

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