Police paid out more than $1,200 in their cash-for-guns amnesty last month.
Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden displayed the guns and ammunition handed in to police during the latest amnesty and admitted he was “a bit disappointed” with the haul, which included 825 rounds of ammunition, three air guns and one “lethal barrel” .380 calibre hand gun, but said that these were weapons and bullets that were now off the street.
“I would have preferred to have seen far more guns and ammunition handed in. Then again, we got what we got,” he said, adding that even though the response was not as great as police would have wished, they believed the amnesty was a still a good initiative.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service launched the amnesty on 1 July and after one month extended the amnesty and gave the added incentive of paying money to people who handed over their unlicensed or unwanted guns and ammunition.
During July, police received just two firearms – a shotgun and a rifle – and 144 rounds of ammunition.
Police, from a donation from High Impact Media, paid out a total of $1,242.50 in exchange for the weapons and bullets handed in during August.
Police offered $25 per 10 bullets received under the programme and up to $200 was offered for each operational firearm turned in by 31 August, including working pellet guns and air rifles.
Mr. Bodden said the amnesty was “only one part of the wider firearms reduction strategy that we have”.
For more on this story, read Wednesday’s Caymanian Compass.
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