Caribbean leaders agree to ban assault weapons for civilian use

Caribbean heads have decided to ban the use of assault weapons in the civilian populations of their respective nations.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Dr  Keith Rowley, made the announcement on Tuesday while delivering closing remarks at the Regional Symposium: Violence as a Public Health Issue – The Crime Challenge.

Dr Rowley said CARICOM leaders also intend to write to the United States President and his administration for a “greater effort in preventing the manufacturers of these killing machines and projectiles from having the profit-making outcome that is killing our people and destroying our society. We want the guns and ammunition stopped.”

“Today, we are saying to the United States the same way we fought with you to prevent the powder (cocaine) from going up North to poison your community, we want you to fight with us to prevent the guns and ammunition from coming into our territories,” he said, echoing sentiments of other leaders over the two days.

Prime Minister Rowley stated that these little islands in the Caribbean cannot sustain for much longer the death rate and the economic destruction that this wanton use of arms and ammunition is wreaking on us.