The gun registration amnesty program that began last month will continue through July 15, giving residents the chance to renew expired firearms licenses without penalty or turn in unlicensed firearms with no questions asked.
The program began April 15. So far, only one person has taken advantage of the amnesty, according to Police Officer Karen Stout, supervisor of the St. Croix Firearms Bureau.
Gun registrations are valid for three years and then must be renewed, Stout said. The V.I. Police Department is working to contact all people whose registrations have expired. The amnesty period will allow people in those circumstances to update their registration without having to pay a late fee, she said.
Individuals with illegal, unregistered, unwanted or found firearms can turn them over to the police department during through July 15 with no questions asked.
“Too frequently, these deadly weapons are lost or stolen from homes and fall into the wrong hands,” Police Commissioner Novelle Francis said. “Sixty-three percent of weapons recovered from crime scenes were previously in the possession of licensed owners.”
Not all unlicensed guns were necessarily acquired illegally, Stout added. In cases where a gun was legally owned by someone who either gave it to a family member or died and left it to a family member, the gun must be turned in to the police and a new registration for the individual must be applied for.
The amnesty program reduces the chance these weapons will be stolen or taken and used in a violent crime, according to Francis. Once handed in, the weapons will undergo forensic testing and then be scheduled for disposal.
Stout added that people with unregistered firearms can have them registered if they meet the qualifications to possess a gun license. Anyone found with an unregistered firearm after the amnesty period will be in violation of territory law, might lose his or her license privileges and could face prosecution.
The department will not accept first-time applicants during this period. However, licensed gun owners can have their firearms placed in safekeeping by the police department.
Further information can be obtained by calling Stout at 712-6023 or 712-6058, or retired Officer Elfreda Robinson, Supervisor of the St. Thomas/St. John Firearms Bureau, at 715-5519 or 715-5563.