Residents of the Virgin Islands retain the ability to surrender firearms to the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force with complete confidentiality, despite the absence of a formal gun amnesty, according to recent statements by members of the National Security Council (NSC).
A gun amnesty is a period of non-prosecution that allows people to surrender unwanted or unregistered firearms without threat of legal repercussions.
On Friday, 284 Media asked whether the NSC would consider a gun amnesty as part of crime fighting methods to a panel consisting of Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio Wheatley, His Excellency the Governor John Rankin and Commissioner of Police Mark Collins.
Governor Rankin said that while the idea is not off the table it had not shown desired results in the past.
The Governor went on to explain, however, that mechanisms exist to allow members of the public to relinquish weapons to the RVIPF in confidence.
Commissioner of Police Mark Collins provided further comment on previous experiences with gun amnesties in the BVI, and additional information on how members of the public can go about surrendering illegal weapons to the relevant authorities at any time.