JUSTICE Minister Delroy Chuck on Friday continued pushing back at critics who say the Firearms Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation Act, 2022 is too harsh on the accused and needs to be amended, arguing that he has to “balance the scale”.

Speaking at the ministry’s Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) policy development and estate planning forum at Sandals Dunn’s River in St Ann, Chuck charged that he cannot only take into consideration the expectations of the accused but those of the victims as well.

“That is why I say, when I met with the Bar Association yesterday [Thursday] I told them, ‘Yes, we will look at those exceptional cases — we will look at imitation firearms, we will look at where the gun was not in play when it was found.’ But what about those cases where a man is caught having fired, having robbed, having raped? You think it is easy for a woman who has to surrender herself because a gun is at her head?” he said.

On Thursday Chuck called an emergency meeting with lawyers following a silent protest staged by defence attorneys outside the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston on Wednesday.

During the protest, attorneys called for a review of the mandatory sentencing provisions of the Act and and its impact on “justice, due process, and the rule of law”. They demanded that their concerns be taken on board for reform.

The demonstration follows mounting concerns within sections of the legal profession over the Act’s mandatory minimum sentencing provisions, particularly the restriction they place on judicial discretion.

However, Chuck argued on Friday that he has no doubt the judges have discretion and can always apply 15 years instead of 30, but maintained that offenders should be treated with the strongest possible penalty.

“Over the past couple weeks, including yesterday [Thursday], we’ve had to deal with this Firearms Act. The lawyers feel that the law is too harsh on gunmen and we must give the court more discretion, but those gunmen don’t deserve less than 30 years. Not 15 years. They should spend a long time in prison,” Chuck argued.

According to the defence attorneys, Thursday’s meeting failed to produce any meaningful plans to reform the Act, and as such attorneys have placed on alert to pull their services from the island’s courts for an entire week, starting next Monday — a move that will deal a significant blow to the Michaelmas Term which began just over a week ago.

Underscoring that since the passing of the legislation, less gun cases are going to the court, Chuck doubled down on his comments made on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at the annual Assize Service of the judiciary that the Act has resulted in the current reduction in crime.

According to Chuck, while the mandatory minimum sentences contained in the provision were being reviewed because of widespread concerns, “the security forces and a number of my colleagues feel that the Act is working and it is bringing down murders and shootings”.

On Friday, Chuck maintained he is confident the work of the police over the last few years is due to the fact that they not only have resources, but are supported by the the Firearms Act.

“We came into office with the murder rate climbing, and we decided that we need a new Firearms Act to deal with the guns and gangs within our country, and it took almost seven years before we were able to put in place the Firearms Act 2022,” he said.

“When you argue with the lawyers and say, ‘From 2022 I’ve quoted the reduction,’ they say, ‘But there’s no causation, there’s no correlation,’ [but] there’s coincidence though. And once there’s coincidence, and murders are going down, let murders go down some more. Let the coincidence continue,” Chuck said, adding that he advised lawyers that a law which has proven to be effective cannot be changed at present.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the police feel morally justified and inspired to go and search for guns and capture gunmen because they know that when they do, and they take them to court, an appropriate penalty can be imposed. How do you think a police officer who finds a man, lock him up, take him to court, and the court pat him on the back and say, ‘You sound like you can be rehabilitated will feel?’ ” Chuck asked.