Donald de Castro believes that stiffer penalties need to be implemented for gun related crimes. Photo: VINO/File

Mr de Castro also said he welcomed the recent gun amnesty introduced by the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF). “I don’t have a problem with amnesty as long as they can get the guns off the street,” Mr de Castro he revealed.

He added, “My concern is when they catch people with guns and ammunition the punishment is not stiff enough… the fines and imprisonment do not fit the crime.”

Mr de Castro believes that authorities need to put stiffer penalties in place as well as to have some sort of "bargaining chip" that when persons are found with illegal guns, they can find out who the supplier is.

His contention was, “the person found with the guns has a supplier and that is who you want to get at. The man with the gun is only one person but the supplier is the one supplying all the individuals.”

The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) announced the introduction of a firearm amnesty on November 19, 2012 during a policing group meeting held in East End Long Look. The amnesty is scheduled to last for one month.

During the meeting, the RVIPF bemoaned the relatively small number of recovered firearms from illegal activities as well.

Ag. Deputy Commissioner of Police Alwin James promised however, that illegal guns could be turned in with no questions asked during this period but assured that once the amnesty has expired, persons found with illegal firearms thereafter will be brought before the court and are expected to be dealt with as “stiff as the law provides”.

Meanwhile, Mr de Castro suggested that the penalties for gun and ammunition offences need to be drastically increased since he felt that higher fines might be more of a deterrent than prison sentences.

Mr de Castro added, “Our government here always finds time to institute new laws and strict laws and hard laws for when it comes to penalties for financial services, but when it comes to penalties [that affect] the local people and the poor people, they’re not concerned.”

He added, “In some places they pay you to turn in the guns, or buy the guns from you… if there is an amnesty and they pay you to turn in the guns, then it is something different.” The RVIPF did not give any indication that persons turning in illegal guns would receive any monetary rewards.

Mr de Castro doesn’t believe that all hope is lost, however, as he said, “if they say it can work… [then] whatever amount of guns they get off the street would still be beneficial.”