The 20-round loophole in the Firearms Act

Even as defence lawyers protest the rigidity of the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022, calling for a review by legislators, proponents have pointed to a section that allows offenders with up to 19 rounds of illegal ammunition to evade the mandatory minimum sentences being balked at by the legal fraternity.

If convicted under Section 45 of the Act for unauthorised possession of ammunition, the Sixth Schedule outlines the penalty for an unlicensed person as ‘on summary conviction before a parish court, a fine, not exceeding five million dollars, or imprisonment, for a term not exceeding five years’.

To the chagrin of proponents of the disputed Act, attorney-at-law Ruel Gibson of Stubbs, Gibson and Associates explained that the difference lies in the number of rounds as evidenced by Sections 5 and 10.