THE House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the report and recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act (2022), which has now been withdrawn for retabling.

The committee completed deliberations on the Bill on July 2022 after receiving comments from stakeholders, including the Firearms Licencing Authority, Jamaica Defence Force, the Jamaica Rifle Association, licensed firearm holders, the Jamaican Bar Association, and the Cornwall Bar Association.

Among the proposals from the committee is the retention of the provision for a mandatory minimum prison sentence for simple possession of an illegal firearm.

“For the active criminal, killer, chopper, you very rarely find him active for the police to be able to say that’s him. He evades the police quickly and effectively, so possession is most likely charge to find some of these [criminals], so we have to treat it as we have done. We feel it’s important to treat simple possession as part of the very serious offences and give mandatory sentences. Majority of the choppers… committing them for possession is key to ensuring [an] effective piece of legislation,” Security Minister Dr Horace Chang explained as he outlined the main recommendations to colleague legislators.

The joint select committee has also recommended amendments to the definition of some terms such firearm, to now mean any barrel weapon which discharges or is designed to discharge any shot, bullet, or other projectile; or prohibited weapon unless the context otherwise requires, and includes any such weapon created as 3D printed weapons, or otherwise created through the use of electronic software.

“We have done some future-proofing work to ensure that 3D-printed firearms come under prohibited weapons; it’s a new technology, it’s evolving, and this wording has to be so structured so that, even if there is changing software, that any weapon that comes through an electronic software in the virtual space and is manufactured by any kind of machine is still a prohibited weapon,” Dr Chang said.

The firearms Bill, which will replace the 1976 Act, is intended to modernise offences, penalties and fines, to include mandatory minimum sentences, and generally provide a stronger deterrent to illegal importation, and use of illegal and prohibited weapons.

The Bill also seeks to eliminate illegal possession, manufacture trafficking, proliferation and use of prohibited weapons, and provides for the management and regulation of the firearms industry through a robust licensing regime and national registry of firearms. It also addresses new threats posed by technological advancements, and enable the country to meet international treaty obligations.