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Cayman Islands Firearms Law to be Amended in an Effort to Combat Violent Crime

Caribbean Net News

3 October 2005

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The Cabinet of the Cayman Islands has embarked on an aggressive programme of legislative reform with the aim of stemming the recent increase in violent crime. The first in this planned package of legislation, aimed at imposing stiffer penalties and to introduce new offences, will be an amendment to the Firearms Law…

The bill to amend the existing law introduces a minimum sentence of 10 years for persons convicted of serious firearm offences. It will also initiate new offences with regard to the unauthorized importation and possession of bullet-proof vests. These new offences will carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of $100,000, which the current Law now provides for various firearm offences…

The draft bill provides that persons convicted of importing, exporting, possession or use of specified firearms must be incarcerated for at least 10 years. In addition to the minimum sentence, courts, of course, have the discretion of imposing a period of incarceration of up to 20 years and fines of up to $100,000.

The current law has a definition of the term "firearm" that is wide enough to include air pistol, air gun, and any component part of any such weapon, and ammunition. Cabinet has drafted the bill to incorporate a narrower definition of the term "firearm" in respect of which the minimum sentence applies, as it felt that imposing a ten-year sentence for lesser transgressions would be too Draconian.

Accordingly, this bill is aimed at the use of weapons such as machine guns, sub-machine guns, rifles, shot guns, pistols or similar lethal barreled weapons…

ID: N170

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