Violent deaths in the Caribbean three times the global average
Policymakers will consider weapon modifications in constructing anti-crime plans after a recent study revealed a new trend of converting weapons to allow automatic fire through techniques as accessible as 3D printing.
The study, which was released yesterday, was conducted by the Caricom Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS)and the Small Arms Survey
According to the study, at least 57 such devices were discovered in T&T between 2020 and 2021 with 44 seized in Couva on November 6, 2021.
“Research conducted by the survey suggests that trafficking in conversion devices in the Caribbean is currently limited to certain states and territories. Only one of the eight government respondents to the Survey’s 2021 National Small Arms Questionnaire indicated that law enforcement agencies in their states had seized conversion devices in recent years,” the report said.
Other Caribbean countries where devices were seized include Puerto Rico, St Lucia, and the US Virgin Islands.
Commenting on the study, Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds said, “Naturally, laws evolve to meet current circumstances, so if that emerges as an issue as it is emerging as an issue quite naturally it will attract the attention of policymakers, hence the reason for this kind of thing. The survey identified that and therefore our policymakers will be guided by it in terms of the policies we shape and the amendments to the laws that may be necessary in response to that.”
The study also found that 3D-printed weapons are growing in popularity and while the risk to the Caribbean region is currently minimal, that could change without warning. The lure for petty criminals in the region is the comparative ease of access to these weapons compared to factory-made weapons.
The region needs to ensure their laws and regulations allow for prosecuting those who are found with these weapons before they can take root among the criminal population, the study warned.
The survey acknowledged that assault weapons accounted for less than ten per cent of weapons seized in the Caribbean as handguns were more common. In T&T, rifles accounted for five per cent of the weapons seized between 2016 and 2020.
The study found that the rate of violent deaths in Caricom member states is almost three times the global average. It also found that firearms are used in more than half of all homicides in the region with this proportion reaching 90 per cent in some countries.
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