Above: National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage at a press conference (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Progressive Liberal Party government in the Bahamas is set to unveil a new National Firearms Control Strategy to combat the spread of illegal guns in the country, according to National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage.

The government is also “committed” to a National Intelligence Agency to address major crimes in the Bahamas, he said.

“The government of the Bahamas is determined to maximize our resources in thwarting all efforts to smuggle illegal firearms into our country,” he said. “The criminal elements have proven to be very resilient and creative in finding alternative ways to continue their illegal activities.”

Nottage was speaking at a ceremony to hand over a set of hydraulic shears for firearms destruction at the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Internal Security Division.

The handover was a collaboration between the Bahamian government, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Today, the main source of weapons involved in crime in the Bahamas has been illegal firearms that have been smuggled into the country,” he said.

According to Nottage, three-quarters of all armed robberies and two-thirds of all non-fatal, violent injuries in the Bahamas have been committed with the use of a firearm.