Individuals caught using, trading, making, or stockpiling illegal guns of any kind will face harsher penalties under a new firearms regulation regime.

The Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 is now before Parliament, to be reviewed by a joint select committee of both Houses. It repeals and replaces the 2010 Firearms Act.

People in possession of any make gun that is unregulated will be treated with the stronger penalties than those which now apply, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang warned as he piloted the Bill in the House on Thursday.

“Illegal guns that have not been subjected to the regulatory regime are now considered prohibited firearms and will be treated with stronger penalties and with a different regime,” Dr Chang said. “There is a category of prohibited weapons that included mainly automatic weapons and assault rifles, but the weapon of choice to kill and maim citizens is actually a handgun — the 9mm and the 45s.”

The 116-clause Bill introduces harsher penalties for offences connected to the illicit trade, manufacture, stockpiling, possession and use of illegal guns.

Furthermore, it bears new provisions aimed at satisfying Jamaica’s international obligations, such as those relating to trafficking, stockpiling, diversion, marking of firearms and capturing of ballistic signatures, and the establishment of a national control system.

The Bill also empowers the portfolio minister to declare a firearms amnesty by order, subject to affirmative resolution. This will allow people who are in possession of illegal firearms to surrender these weapons and ammunition to the State without the threat of prosecution.

“As the Government advances our thrust to get every illegal gun, it is our intention to provide citizens with an opportunity to surrender their illegal guns as soon as this new Bill is signed into law,” the national security minister promised.

Dr Chang emphasised that the firearms Bill is critical to the prevention and reduction of murders in the island.

“The proliferation of illegal guns is a catalyst for murders,” he said, pointing out that between 2018 and 2021 about 2,700 firearms and more than 44,000 rounds of ammunition were seized.

“Last year, 85 per cent of murders were committed with the use of a gun, while 72 per cent were attributed as gang-related. At the same time, 80 per cent of the 765 robberies reported involved the use of a firearm and 1,258 shooting incidents were recorded across the island,” he told the House.

The Bill was also piloted through the Senate on Thursday afternoon by leader of Government business Kamina Johnson Smith, in an unusual sitting which featured a public business agenda.

The joint select committee is to deliberate on the Bill in the coming days.