The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Jamilla Kennyatta Thomas, 33, inadvertently carried a live round of ammunition into the Bahamas. She was arrested at Lynden Pindling International Airport on May 29th as she prepared to board a return flight to the US-Glendale, California. The bullet was a single 9mm round. Jamilla was pregnant, incurred travel delay and sustained mental distress over this event. She had to plead guilty to criminal possession of ammunition before a magistrate and pay a serious fine to avoid prison.

Similar heartbreaking stories in the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean destinations are common. They typically involve American tourists who hold firearm licences in the United States and who have used a piece of luggage for travel that was also used in the past to contain firearms and/or ammunition. Unfortunately, firearm licenses in the United States are not recognised in the Bahamas or in Caribbean islands. These tourists have no intent whatsoever to transport ammunition into or out of their vacation destinations. Many have stated that they checked their bags carefully before leaving to make sure there was no gun or ammunition inside.

However, well intentioned pre-travel inspections, and even inspections by TSA and other international security services, fail to uncover small pieces of ammunition and pass security inspections as the offending item is caught in folds, tears or compartments of travel bags.

There is a need for a model law to address situations like Jamilla’s and to decriminalise such conduct when the individual acted unintentionally. Such a law would look like this: Careless Possession of Ammunition: (1) Any person entering the Islands or its surrounding waters in possession of 20 or fewer live rounds of ammunition because of carelessness, inattentiveness, or inadvertentance, will be considered to be in careless possession of ammunition. (2) Any person who violates this section shall be subject only to a civil cost of up to $500. (3) The ammunition shall be confiscated and not returned to the individual. (4) This section applies to: a. Persons entitled to possess the ammunition in their state, province and/or country of origin. b. Shotgun ammunition .10 gauge or smaller, pistol ammunition .45 caliber or smaller and/or rifle ammunition smaller than .50 caliber. (5) This section shall not apply to any subsequent careless possession of ammunition occurring after the first infraction.

A model law as proposed would decriminalise inadvertent, unintentional conduct and grant the offending tourist one non-criminal error. And, the traveller would have due warning to refrain from using luggage previously containing a gun or ammunition without the emotional distress of being accused of criminal conduct and its consequences, potential prison time.

BRIAN B BOLTON, Esq, BCS

Lake Mary, Florida

August 2022.