Greater efforts should be made by Caribbean authorities to address the increasing prevalence of privately made firearms (PMF).
This was one of the key findings in a situation update on illegal guns in the region.
The document was published this month by The Small Arms Survey an organisation based in Switzerland. This report follows the Weapons Compass, the Caribbean Firearms Study done last year, which was completed in collaboration with the Caribbean Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (Impacs).
The 12-page document said that few seized PMFs are identified as such, suggesting that greater effort is needed to improve the detection, identification, and monitoring of these weapons.
“While privately made firearms represent a small proportion of all firearm seizures in the Caribbean region, the threat appears to be growing as police are recovering a range of different types of PMF” the report stated.
Last April, the survey identified handguns as the weapon of choice in the Caribbean with an increase in PMFs and converter switches that turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic ones. This, it warned, has the potential to create mass shootings.
“The proliferation of privately made rifles and semi-automatic pistols, combined with the circulation of conversion devices, increases the likelihood that significantly more rounds will be fired during criminal shootings, which may in turn increase the risk of multiple injuries, including among bystanders,” the report stated.
Information in the update revealed that 57 such devices were seized in T&T between 2020 and 2021 with more recovered last year and this year. The amount for the latter periods was not disclosed. It added that these converters are not easily detected and can be purchased online.
“Conversion devices also undermine firearms regulations that restrict civilian ownership of machine guns. Conversion devices do not look like firearms or their main parts and are therefore difficult for untrained Customs officials to detect. In fact, these devices have been sold online as household items such as coat hangers. “Reported cases therefore probably only capture a tiny percentage of illicit conversion devices circulating in the Caribbean,” the report stated.
Apart from PMFs, 3D-printed firearms are also a cause for concern the statement warned.
“Concerns around the possible spread of 3D-printed firearms to the region were realised in August 2023, when a ‘ghost gun lab’ producing 3D-printed firearms for distribution to criminal groups was discovered in Trinidad and Tobago. The police recovered, among other items, a 3D printer and 3D-printing software, ammunition, and several 3D-printed firearms and projectiles at the workshop. In separate incidents, authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have also seized what appears to be a 3D-printed FGC9, as well as a 3D-printed Glock lower receiver.”
The report said there needs to be greater training for state officials in the region to be able to accurately and consistently identify ghost guns, 3D-printed firearms, and other PMFs.
“It is also critical to ensure that information on the latest PMF-related trends is shared regularly with authorities from throughout the Caribbean so that appropriate prevention and mitigation measures can be put in place in a timely manner. The development of region-wide firearm-related crime intelligence capabilities— for instance, through the recently created Caricom Crime Gun Intelligence Unit13—can help detect and track emerging types of illicit firearms.”
In 2022, the US partnered with the region to create the Caribbean Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CCGIU). Together with Caricom Impacs, CCGIU assisted in improving intelligence and information sharing among Caribbean and US law enforcement agencies as many of the illegal guns in the Caribbean are traced back to the US.
In April 2023, US Ambassador to T&T Candace Bond told attendees at the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’s (CBSI) three-day meeting on preventing the illicit trafficking of firearms, that to combat gun violence in the region, the US invested over US $832 million through the CBSI.