Handgun prices increase as more rifles enter Trinidad and Tobago

WITH the influx of high-powered rifles, the cost of handguns have increased while the cost of ammunition have reduced, acting Police Commissioner Mc Donald Jacob said.

Speaking with Newsday on Sunday, Jacob said while he could not say whether the cost of high-powered rifles had also increased, the cost of a pistol increased by $3,000 from $18,000 to $21,000 while a revolver moved from $9,000 to $12,000.

He could not say what was the cost of ammunition but was confident that the cost decreased as supply increased.

Jacob said late last year the police service launched a firearms-seizure initiative which included all arms of the protective service as well as municipal police.

Since then the recovery of guns has increased. With the stop and search increases by the Highway Patrol Unit, Jacob said a number of high powered rifles have also been seized.

“The question of more firearms coming in I will say the evidence of the finds we're getting in the bonds is a sign that more people are still trying to bring in firearms.

"The firearm that we are seizing on the street demonstrates the efforts being made by law enforcement to get firearms off the streets.

He said people are paying up to US$300 to purchase high- powered rifles by gun smugglers who ship them to the country.

Jacob said even when the serial numbers on the guns are shaved off, officers are trained to recover it and trace the gun. Most times it is discovered they originate from North America, he said.

He also said "ghost guns" were also a new trend. He explained that these weapons have no serial numbers. But, he assured there were ways to identify them and his officers were trained to do so.

To date, he said, police have seized between 12 and 15 ghost guns, all of which were handguns.

With the implementation of the Special Evidence Recovery Unit (SERU), Jacob said the wait time to identify ballistics and guns have decreased significantly.

Guns are now traced within seven days and fingerprint analysis went from 10 days to 48 hours while ballistic reports can be received within 72 hours. Jacob said because of the training the officers received from both the US Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) and the UN’s Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, 15 murders were solved.

He also said firearms from all arms of the protective service can be matched to annumition fired and to date, none of the spent shells found at crime scenes were traced to any weapon issued to officers in the protective service.

Jacob also said some of the 42 guns which disappeared from the Forensic Science Centre 12 years ago were recovered over time. He said no charges were laid but individuals were moved from the centre after the incident.