Criminalise gun couriers

Senior attorney Peter Champagnie, KC — who has been strident about the shortcomings of the 2022 Firearms Act since inception — on Monday welcomed amendments proposed by the National Security Council but is urging criminalisation of couriers or shippers who import illegal firearms into the country by virtue of lax inspection protocols.

His call comes in the wake of Sunday’s announcement by the Office of the Cabinet that the National Security Council (NSC) has recommended that individuals convicted of illegal possession of a firearm should now face a new minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years imprisonment instead of the current 15-year minimum.

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The NSC also proposed that adults who groom children to use, store, transport, or acquire illegal guns will face a new criminal offence under the pending amendments to the Act “to address the gap whereby gangs seek to recruit and enlist minors in the commission of gun crimes”.