ComPol to Institute Firearm Control Measures
In February of this year, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams met with the gun dealers in the country to discuss stronger gun control measures. In that meeting, there were several recommendations made and today twenty-five of the gun dealers met again with the ComPol to review the progress made with a view to have some of the changes in firearm control instituted as early as January of next year. We stopped in at the meeting in Belmopan where we spoke with Commissioner Williams. He says that the measures are necessary because they have found out that crimes being committed in Belize are being done with ammunition sold by licensed gun dealers. He explains how the proposed changes will work.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“Over the past few months we have been doing a study and that study that shown that while many of the guns used to commit crime in Belize are brought in illegally the study also shows that the ammunition that are being used on crime scenes are locally purchased ammunition. What that tells us is that they are a number of license firearm holders who are purchasing ammunition and either giving it or selling it to the underworld. The way how the system currently is that a license firearm holder can go to each firearm dealer within a day and purchase a hundred rounds. A license firearm holder can purchase over three thousand rounds a day and there is no control. What the new measures are going to do is that we are now limiting every license firearm holder to two hundred rounds per annum. We have to take into consideration that some people do go to range and practice shooting. When they go on the range and they expend those two hundred round and they need to have those two hundred rounds replenish they will need to apply to the Commissioner of Police and a requirement would be is that they will need to bring the two hundred expended shells they used in the range to show that they have expended those rounds in the range and based on that then the Commissioner will give permission for them to replenish that two hundred more but maybe fifty or hundred dependent on the indication. There are some types of firearms that are used for different purpose like for sports hunting, farmers license. Now we have to give some leeway where they are concerns. People who have farmers license and they go on their farm everyday and shoot birds that are affecting their crops. I don’t expect to limit them to two hundred and they have to coming to apply every minute to the Commissioner for additional rounds. Those types of firearms are mostly shotguns so we are not going to limit those. We are going to be limiting mostly the nine millimetre, thirty-eight and three-eighty pistol. Those are the types of firearms and ammunition that are more prevalently used in the commission of crimes.”
Williams says that gun control measures will also take into consideration those licensed gun dealers who may want to open a registered gun range. Williams says that those dealers will be able to sell to licensed firearm holders and they will report back on the users and number of ammunition used on the ranges.
