Cabinet Minister Weighs in on Gun Control in Belize

Francis Fonseca

On Thursday, reporters asked Minister Fonseca for his thoughts on the topic of gun license reform, as the discussion rages on, and with amendments to the Firearms Act already being passed through parliament. He was also asked if he thinks there should be an audit of the gun license registry. This is what he told us.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“I think the Minister of Home Affairs, the Honorable Kareem Musa, has indicated that, you know, that’s the whole direction that he wants to move. We need a more transparent, open, accountable register. And, you know, as you know, they’ve changed the gun licensing format, the structure of issuing where it, before it lied solely with the Commissioner of Police, now you have a group. So I think that’s the spirit that they’re approaching it and I think they will achieve that objective of having a more open, transparent audit if you like,  I don’t know what you’ll call it, but of the gun registry.”

Reporter

“So what is your position on gun ownership? I think the Prime Minister spoke of a riff in Cabinet over the matter.”

Francis Fonseca

“Well, I think, yeah, he reflected the discussion we had. Well, you know, you have many, if you look at the Parliament; you’ll know that you have people from rural communities. So hunting and having guns is a part of their daily life and culture. Farmers, so obviously you have to have, you know, guns available. But I think the point the Prime Minister made, which I fully endorse and support, is that we have too many guns in the country. We have too many guns in the country. We have to, in my view, put a moratorium on gun licenses. And then we have to do the audit and the review to determine exactly who these people is that have gun license and how many guns, guns they have.”