Another call for business owners to carry firearms in midst of crime wave!
Three business owners speaking to our newsroom on condition of anonymity noted that “it’s hard for business owners to obtain firearm licenses in the Territory and this is wrong”.
The correlation between crime rates and the demand for firearms among business owners is a complex and multifaceted issue. While some studies suggest that higher rates of gun ownership may lead to increased incidents of gun-related crimes, others argue that access to firearms allows for self-defence and acts as a deterrent against crime.
We need to carry firearms
One local bar owner said, “If these bad boys know we have guns in our bars, they will not mess with us. I have applied over three years now, and I continue to get the runaround.”
It is unclear what the procedure is to obtain a firearm and how long it takes. Some two years ago, the outspoken pastor of the New Life Baptist Church, Bishop John I. Cline, was the second clergyman to call for business owners to be allowed to carry arms as a means of protecting themselves from criminal elements.
“How can you have young men, they don’t have any businesses, they don’t have anything, they tilt towards crime, they are armed, but responsible business people who work hard… and you can’t trust them to give them a licensed firearm?” Bishop Cline said on the Tuesday, April 20, 2021, edition of the My BVI radio show.
Bishop Cline’s call came after similar calls were made by ‘Honestly Speaking’ host Claude O. Skelton-Cline, who called for laws to allow business owners to carry firearms to be able to protect themselves.
In the Virgin Islands (VI), businesses are generally not allowed to have firearms on their premises, even though they are considered private property, and the right to control one’s property is a fundamental aspect of VI law.
Acting Commissioner of Police Jacqueline E Vanterpool was asked about her take on the matter but said she was in a meeting and could not respond at the time.
Gun crime against businesses
There have been several armed robberies at local businesses or involving business owners over the years.
In April 2021, Catherine Pickering was shot in the head at a residence in Paraquita Bay during an armed robbery. She was the mother of a businesswoman who had returned to the residence with her earnings for the day when the robbery occurred. She succumbed to her injuries on April 19, 2021.
Bath and Turtle Restaurant on Virgin Gorda was robbed on the evening of June 8, 2024.
Just this past weekend, during the early hours of Saturday, October 4, 2025, one man was shot during an armed robbery at a popular bar in Road Town.
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9 Responses to “Another call for business owners to carry firearms in midst of crime wave!”
You have children raising children here, and you want one of them to own a gun??? The same ones you see zooming around on motorcycles with toddlers on their bike, and without helmets at that? 'Another dangerous issue the police aren’t solving!'
You may be legalising guns for the very people who are using them at the moment.
Last thing we need is legal, gun toting, scooter riding, links wearing business people with children doing wheelies around the territory shooting rounds into the air.
Bad enough that they are allowed to do it illegally without enforcement.
I wouldn't legalise it.