Today is the final day of the gun amnesty issued by the government of Dominica that took effect on October 1, 2023.
Minister of National Security Rayburn Blackmoore announced that effective October 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023, the government of Dominica is offering a “firearm and ammunition amnesty’” for persons with illegal firearms and ammunition to turn them into the police without being prosecuted.
This comes in the wake of the number of firearms-related offenses (14) to date in Dominica.
“The Government is now adding to these measures, a gun and ammunition amnesty that will commence from 1, October 2023 to end on 31, October 2023, you will recall that such an amnesty was offered in 2007. A gun and ammunition amnesty is a period of nonprosecution that allows people to surrender their unregistered firearms without fear of legal repercussions,” Blackmoore stated.
According to him, the amnesty is directed at two distinct groups of people, “those who know they have illegal weapons or ammunition and those who are perhaps innocent custodians of a weapon or ammunition and possibly even unsure as to its legal status, but too frightened to do anything about it, now is your opportunity to surrender those illegal firearms and to play your part in making Dominica safer for all of us.”
We expect to have a press conference with the police giving details of the amount of firearms and ammunition that were surrendered during the one-month amnesty.