Gun club shoots down CTUSAB firearm limits suggestion

The Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association has strongly criticised recent proposals to limit firearms ownership exclusively to police and military personnel, arguing that such measures will not address the island’s escalating gun violence.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, the association’s secretary Gary Field said the suggestion was “ridiculous” and out of touch, since legally owned firearms are not contributing to the surge in crime.

“The violence being committed is not with licensed firearms,” he said.  He emphasised that anyone seeking to obtain a firearm licence in Barbados must undergo a stringent vetting process, which often takes years and results in the majority of applicants being rejected.

“The police conduct extremely thorough background checks—referees, lawyers, alcohol checks—it’s very thorough,” he said.

Field also addressed concerns that gun clubs served as training grounds for criminals.

“We are cognisant of the fact that these criminals want to practise their shooting, and we are making sure that they aren’t practising at us,” he said. “Great and absolute care is taken to ensure that criminals do not have the possibility of practising their craft at our range.”

These comments come in response to a call by the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) on Wednesday to restrict firearms access solely to law enforcement and military personnel, following a significant increase in gun-related crimes in Barbados.

The island recorded 49 murders in 2024, a 158 per cent increase from the previous year, with firearms used in 34 of these killings. The country’s murder rate per capita now stands at 18.2 per 10 000 people, the highest in its history.

Reports from the Barbados Crime Observatory are that gun violence was heavily concentrated in St Michael, accounting for 53 per cent of all firearm-related slayings.

The average age of victims was 30, while the average age of accused perpetrators was 21.6.

Field said that efforts should be focused on curbing the influx of illegal firearms and supporting border security.

“Give the police more resources. Give the Coast Guard more resources. That’s where the battle is,” he said, adding that the increasing brazenness of gun violence, including shootings in public spaces and the deaths of innocent children, is reflective of a deeper crisis that won’t be solved by targeting licensed firearm owners.

CTUSAB General Secretary Dennis de Peiza reiterated in a statement on Thursday that the trade union body was not advocating stripping current legal gun owners of their licences, “as it had no reason or evidence to support that they were perpetrators of any criminal activity or involved in gun violence”.

“We believe that the individual right to own a gun should be restricted to the state law enforcement and protection agencies and that no individual should be granted a gun permit,” he reiterated. “Possession of guns should be restricted to the police and military agencies only. This may be unpopular, but it is measure worth considering as a first step to bring a halt to the access to guns.”

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb