Easy access to illegal firearms is currently the most significant threat
Melissa Wong
The importation of illegal firearms in the Caribbean Region was a burning issue discussed at the Regional Security System (RSS) Council of Ministers Meeting last week, where Chair of the RSS Council of Ministers, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, described the situation as a scourge.
As the Prime Minister spoke on the issue of gun-related crime, he delivered the unfortunate news that on Tuesday night, Grenada suffered a gun-related homicide with at least six shots being fired, resulting in a fatality. Mitchell said preliminary investigations suggested it was an execution-style hit and that the perpetrator may not have been originally from Grenada.
He said gun-related activity is a challenge that the Region faces. Mitchell, as Chair of the RSS Council of Ministers, noted that recently the RSS had been deployed to Saint Lucia to restore law and order and calm a section of the country that has recently experienced a spike in gun-related criminal activity.
The prime minister stated that the Region is battling the scourge of importing firearms and ammunition into countries from sources outside the Caribbean’s shores where these menacing tools are manufactured.
“The easy access to firearms in our countries is one of the greatest threats that we currently face, and the various criminal activities spawned from illegal firearms have far-reaching negative impacts on our people and societies,” Mitchell noted that economic and social
development is difficult to achieve where turmoil and security instability exist.
He said efforts must continue to be made so that the security environment of countries in the Region is such that it encourages investment and supports the several critical economic activities that drive development.
In addition, the Region must also play its part in strengthening border protection and reducing the demand for illegal firearms among people, particularly the young. Mitchell stated the RSS is responding to crime beyond the traditional approach of incarceration and fines. The vision is to bankrupt the criminals by removing their heartbeat -money, the profit, and the assets involved in the engineering or resulting from these criminal activities.
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