Acting Commissioner of Police Enville Williams says that the public can expect to see the rollout of a gun amnesty soon.
Commissioner Williams was speaking at a press conference on Monday when he said that the gun amnesty, among other measures, is geared towards making the streets of St. Vincent and the Grenadines safer for all.
“Very shortly, we will, as an organization, and the law enforcement community in general, rollout the highly anticipated gun amnesty that the Prime Minister talked about in his recent Independence address. This, among other measures, is geared towards making our streets and our communities safer for all of us, because, too often, lives are lost because of illegal firearms, homes are shattered, dreams are broken, and too many cries are going up because of violence,” he said.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves during his independence address, announced that there would be a gun amnesty immediately following the passage of legislation this month to increase penalties for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. According to the Prime Minister, the idea is to get persons to bring in their illegal firearms and after this chance, penalties will be increased and prosecution intensified.
The commissioner of police urged the Vincentian public to partner with the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force as they seek to tackle the scourge of guns and crime.
