A gun amnesty program will begin on April 7, 2025, allowing individuals to surrender illegal weapons without facing prosecution.
The initiative will run until April 30, with the police designated as the receiving authority for all surrendered weapons.
“Within the past three weeks or so, the police have confiscated unlawful guns from a number of persons who have been brought before the magistrate’s court. Those persons get as many as two years in jail for being in possession of unlawful guns. We want those unlawful guns off the streets of Antigua and Barbuda,” said Cabinet Spokesperson Lionel Hurst during Thursday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.
Hurst explained that this approach has been tried previously with some success: “We are trying yet another amnesty. We have done this maybe three or four times during the 10-year term of the Gaston Browne administration, and each time it yields a few guns.”