Gun Control Shows Promise in Virgin Islands Senate

As a seemingly endless stream of horrific incidents of mass shootings continue to haunt the country, calls for gun reform have once again entered the arena of public debate on both a local and national level.

While that debate has historically polarized the mainland, lawmakers in the U.S. Virgin Islands appear united in their effort to control gun violence in the Territory. Just last week, the Senate’s Rules and Judiciary secured a major victory towards gun reform in the USVI with its unanimous support of Bill No. 34-0206.

Bill No. 34-0206, sponsored by Senator Alma Francis Heyliger, would repeal a portion of the VI Code, which granted reciprocal recognition of conceal-and-carry firearms licenses issued to private citizens from other jurisdictions outside of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“With all the issues that we're having with gun violence across the United States and even here in the Territory,” said Sen. Francis Heyliger during the June 2nd session of the Rules and Judiciary. “This is a loophole for me that we need to close.”

In a press release following the passage of the bill, Sen. Francis Heyliger described the proposed legislation as an effort to curtail the flow of firearms into the Territory and ensure that every gun owner in the Territory abides by the same standard of the Virgin Islands Code. Her colleagues in the Senate commended her for the effort and indicated the need for further legislation.

Senator Novelle E. Francis, Jr., a former law enforcement officer, said he hopes to empower law enforcement in its efforts to reduce gun violence.

“We know for a lot of those individuals that may be involved with the legal transportation of firearms, will not be declaring those firearms either to the airlines or in instances even to the Virgin Islands Police Department,” said Sen. Francis.

“We all are aware we listen to the news every day. Gun violence has absolutely been a scourge in this community, but more so it has been a scourge in our nation,” said the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Miton E. Potter. “The proliferation of firearms getting in the hands of persons who are not persons who are the age, who are not responsible, has really been a blockade on our Territory. The mass shootings that we've seen lately, is a phenomena here in this country. It doesn't happen anywhere else with such regularity.”

Just a day prior to the Senate Committee’s passage of the gun licensing reform in the U.S. Virgin Islands, four people were killed by a gunman inside of a medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York still remain fresh wounds that still require treatment just within the past 30 days alone. Firearms used in all three shootings were purchased legally.

Of course, the Virgin Islands tends to historically deal with gun violence that arises from street level crimes, borne of socio economic roots. For instance, the Virgin Islands still grapples with the issue of violence stemming from illegal firearms, as noted by Senator Carla A. Joseph.

“This [bill] definitely is looking at closing that gap. But we know, who have worked in the area of social justice and the like, that persons who are going to bring in those guns they're going to find any means and any way necessary to bring it in,” said Sen. Joseph. “But this is definitely one step and we just have to be a bit more vigilant.”

Senator Genevieve R. Whitaker suggested that the Territory examine the practices employed outside of the United States in order to find more effective means of gun control.

“When we drill down on the issue of firearms, we have to look to the world countries that put real heavy stuff on this and they did that very rigidly and so we have to follow the rigidity,” said Sen. Whitaker in support of the bill. “People have a right to bear arms and to protect themselves. We are now in a space in this country. We don't have to always follow America … The Virgin Islands can carve its own destiny.”

Most certainly illegal guns pose a major problem for the Territory, but the flow of legal guns certainly adds to the overabundance of artillery given its relation to an approximate population of 87,000. According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence: “89% of firearms recovered by law enforcement were originally purchased outside of the Territory making it the second highest import rate among all States and Territories.”

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence was founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and suffered a severe brain injury during a 2011 shooting at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona which killed 6 and injured 13 more. The gun used in the shooting was also purchased legally.

As the Senate looks at possible solutions towards resolving gun violence in the Territory, the advancement of Bill No. 34-0206, certainly exposes the need for further regulation with regards to the entry of firearms within the United States Virgin Islands, but also hints at the sense of urgency and certainly the necessity of further reform from the 34th Legislature.