THE report from deliberations of the joint select committee on the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act could go to Parliament by next week.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, chairman of the committee which has been reviewing the Bill over the past few months, indicated on Tuesday that the deliberations were being wound up with a view to presenting the report to the House of Representatives next Tuesday.

The committee is expected to meet again today to resolve provisions related to whether firearm holders should be given a 24-hour grace period to present their permit to the police or if they should be denied that opportunity.

Also, members will need to clarify whether there is need to include in the law a requirement for reverse burden of proof for people from other jurisdictions who are found with firearms but are not in possession of a permit for the weapon.

Dr Chang said he could not forsee any significant number of cases that would warrant putting legislators through the trouble of including such a specific clause.

“The kind of cases you’re referring to, you rarely find it. I would love to see a case that this applies to. The ones [cases] we are concerned about, there are other ways of dealing with it. We would not need this clause for a man trafficking and having a number of firearms. Where it becomes a problem is the lawyer who comes in from Chicago, where he doesn’t require a licence or permit, fly to Jamaica as a tourist and the firearm is not registered in Jamaica, so technically it’s a prohibited weapon, it would be on them now to get the proof that they have the firearm legally in the US. That’s the case where we could end up with a bit of a problem,” he outlined, pointing out that the courts have been able to effectively handle cases such as these.

Chief technical director in the ministry Rohan Richards pointed out that definition of prohibited firearms now includes firearms that are registered in any other jurisdiction, but there is no way for the authorities to know whether a firearm is registered outside of Jamaica unless the holder presents proof.

“You would have to show that you have registration for the firearm. This is where we want the reverse burden to apply. It wouldn’t necessarily apply to the regulated sector,” he explained.

The new Firearms Bill is expected to establish a framework to deal with firearms that are illicitly trafficked, manufactured, or diverted, separate from firearms that are duly registered by the Firearm Licensing Authority and targets prohibited weapons, including unregulated firearms and connected activities, such as illicit trade, manufacture, stockpiling, possession, and use.

The regulatory framework includes mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for particularly egregious offences.