Richards: Gun Bill may not curb crime

WHILE Independent Senator Paul Richards vowed to support the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2019, he was unsure if it would curb crime which he said was caused by “a conference of problems,” while speaking in the Senate yesterday.

“I’ll support the bill because to not support it would be going counter narrative to efforts to curtail crime in TT, not that I think it’s going to make a difference.”

Using a cricketing analogy, he said, “It seems like we are just ‘vooping’ wild. Our backs are against the wall, our team seems to be losing and we are just going out vooping wild, hoping to connect to hit a six. I don’t think that’s the way we should be approaching the fight against crime.”

Richards said the bill was one measure from the Attorney General to fight crime.

“But I really think it has come about to make up for a really poorly performing Police Service.”

If the police were really performing in crime prevention, detection, evidence gathering, dismantling of gangs and investigations, today criminals facing law courts would not get out on $3,500 bail, Richards said.

On top of the police and law courts, he also blamed crime on social deterioration, the education system, porous border and a general sense of inequality.

“We didn’t get here because of one reason. We got here because of a conference of several circumstances coming together which we had not addressed.”

Noting the existence of stockpiles of firearms during the 1990 attempted coup, Richards said a prevalence of firearms also exists in TT today. “When you think of the intention of this bill, we are really fighting the same wars 30 years later.”

He cited media reports which said TT has 8,154 illegal guns in circulation, with 1,000 forearms and 18,000 bullets seized in one year.

With 10,000 holders of licensed firearm user certificates, plus a backlog of 15,000 applications, he said the situation was now scary.

Richards queried the idea that fewer gun seizures in recent years suggested a decline in the number of illegal guns in circulation, he said, “It could easily mean we are having less success in finding the illegal guns.”

He said the possible presence of Venezuelan criminals in TT could add to the woes of illegal guns. Calling for collaboration to find solutions to crime, Richards said, “If we continue along the line of Government versus Opposition we are not going to get anywhere. One side cannot do it alone.”