“DO MORE”: PM calls on U.S. to intervene on American gun traffickers linked to The Bahamas

“DO MORE”: PM calls on U.S. to intervene on American gun traffickers linked to The Bahamas
[FILE PHOTO]

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said he will continue to agitate on the Caribbean’s behalf, high-ranking United States officials in Washington about the proliferation of guns in The Bahamas that have been traced to American citizens with dual nationality who purchased guns under the guise of the right to bear arms.

“We have been really anxious about the fact that the US government; well, let me put it this way: the US having tracked most of our guns that we (criminals) use in violent crimes here, to specific shops in the United States and to manufacturers, and even being able to identify the persons who even bought those guns,” Davis told reporters on the sidelines of the 36th Annual General Meeting of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police.

Prime Minister Philip Davis

“We are saying to the Americans they need to do more and whereas we don’t want to get involved in the domestic issue about the right to bear arms we are concerned that purchasers of guns are not just buying it to bear, but rather to export and to traffic.”

He continued: “And they need to have that need to have an intervention that where the evidence appeared to them that a person is not just buying it in the exercise of their right to bear it, but rather buying it for the purpose of trafficking that some legislative intervention has to be engaged to make those persons responsible and accountable for the arms they purchase.”

Davis said he has spoken to several high-ranking US authorities from Washington.

While Davis did not name the high-ranking US official, he said: “…It is about as high as the White House.”

He said those officials have listened to the concerns and promised to look into them, including “bringing interventions to see how they could address our concerns”.

“This is a concern throughout the region. It’s not just the Bahamas, but when I spoke, I spoke for the region in respect to it, but bringing illustrations as to what’s occurring in our country, to make the point.

Asked for a specific plan to address the issue, the prime minister said: “Well, my plan is to continue to agitate for them to do something. They have indicated that they will look into doing some things. And until they do those things, I’ll continue to agitate for them to do something.

“What I can say is that one step they’ve taken is to post an alcohol and tobacco, an ATF personnel and alcohol tobacco and firearms individual to the embassy and they’re attached to the embassy now.

“That’s a step in the right direction. And they also appointed another individual from the homeland security, specifically for the purposes of assisting us in identifying, tracing these arms to bring to boot those persons who may be involved in the trafficking of guns from the United States.”

In most instances, the weapons purchasers in the United States are individuals with Bahamian roots, according to Davis.

“In most instances, they are persons of the Bahamian roots who would have dual nationality in the sense that they have some status in the United States and they are connected to The Bahamas.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force has seized more than 170 illegal guns and more than 2,600 rounds of ammunition across the nation.

Some of these weapons, including semi-automatic rifles, had been modified with extended clips to carry up to 200 rounds of ammunition.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.