Fitzgerald Hinds: Gun ban to protect region from mass shootings

NATIONAL Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the proposal to ban assault weapons in the region is a pre-emptive measure to tackle possible instances of mass shootings.

A mass shooting is defined as any single shooting incident in which four or more people are killed.

On April 18, at the close of a two day regional anti-crime symposium, the Prime Minister said one of the measures to address gun violence was a ban on assault weapons except for security forces and competitive shooters. He never gave a definition of assault weapons, which has gun owners anxious, since some have been granted firearm users' licences (FUL) for semi-automatic rifles, which look like assault weapons.

In a phone interview on Monday, Hinds said each country will have to work out how the proposal will apply, as some countries may need legislative adjustments and others may not. He said the move is now in the “early stage,” and could not give a timeline on when this ban will take effect in this country, or a definitive definition of an assault weapon.

Hinds said Caribbean leaders found the proliferation of illegal guns, as well as the abuse of legal guns, had generated a lot of trauma in their respective societies. He cited the murder-suicide of teacher and attorney Keisha-Marina Bostic, and her estranged husband, Shamzard Mohammed on November 4 last year.

“Having regard to the difficulty that we see in neighbouring US, having mass shootings, the abuse of legal firearms and the use of illegal firearms have generated a situation where citizens in Trinidad and Tobago and the region are severely traumatised.

“Therefore, the leaders of the Caribbean, who stated that their ambition is to maintain this region as a zone of peace, have collectively decided that they would impose a ban on assault weapons. As a matter of policy, the governments have indicated that they will prefer not to have assault weapons, which are usually used by trained military personnel in atmospheres of war...proliferate in this society.”

Canada, Hinds said, banned the import and sale of handguns last year in response to gun-related crime statistics. The Canadian national handgun freeze aims to address crime involving the use of firearms. A media release on the ban by the Canadian government said it had already banned over 1,500 types of assault-style firearms and strengthened its gun control laws to expand background checks.

The proposed ban will also look at other measures to keep guns out of the wrong hands. The proposals include revoking gun licences issued to those involved in domestic violence or criminal harassment.

Local gun owners and dealers told Newsday that assault weapons, or automatic rifles, as they identified them, are already banned in TT, and if their legally obtained semi-automatic rifles are to be taken away from them, lawsuits will be filed against the state.

CEO of 868 Tactical Dirk Barnes said there are some rifles that look as menacing as assault rifles but are not. He said the difference between an automatic rifle and a semi-automatic was the number of rounds each can let off with one pull of the trigger, but the function and capabilities of semi-automatic rifles are far lower than those of assault rifles.

Hinds said the principal position is that guns in the hands of criminals and in the hands of licensed people who abuse them are a danger to society, and therefore the regional heads intend to protect their populations from “the trauma, the loss and the pain that such use and abuse will generate.”

Asked about the anxiety that gun owners are now facing as they are unsure whether their guns will be taken away, Hinds said: “The government is equally anxious, worried that we may lose lives. Have you noticed that there was something close to about 170 mass shootings in the US? That is the sort of thing and the potential for that is troubling the governments of the region.”

Chapter 2 of the Firearms Act defines a prohibited weapon as (a) any artillery or automatic firearm. Only members of the armed forces and the director of the Forensic Science Centre are allowed to possess these types of weapons.

Civilians who are allowed semi-automatic rifles are sport shooters, gun dealers and gun instructors. The only other civilians with this type of artillery, automatic or otherwise, are criminals.

On March 9, Dr Rowley announced TT was considering joining Mexico in taking legal action against US gun manufacturers for firearm-related offences in their respective countries. The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and TT are not part of Mexico's US$10 billion lawsuit against seven US gun manufacturers and one wholesaler and distributor.