Senator Shaquan O’Neil has called for Antigua and Barbuda to continue sharing ballistic evidence with neighboring countries, warning that illegal firearms can move throughout the Caribbean and become linked to crimes in several jurisdictions.
Speaking during debate on the Firearms Amendment Bill, 2026, O’Neil said building Antigua and Barbuda’s domestic forensic capabilities should not come at the expense of regional intelligence-sharing.
He was responding to calls for the country to establish its own fully functioning forensic laboratory, acknowledging the importance of that investment while arguing that cooperation with regional laboratories and law enforcement agencies must continue.
“It’s always important that we share these results throughout the region,” O’Neil said.
He referred to ballistic testing reportedly being conducted in Jamaica and said the results could help investigators connect firearms recovered in one country to shootings, murders or robberies committed elsewhere.
“A gun used in Barbuda can be used in St. Kitts,” O’Neil said. “A gun used in St. Kitts can be transported across the water to Jamaica.”
He said firearms could not reveal their own history, making forensic examinations and intelligence-sharing essential to determining where weapons had been used and whether they were connected to other crimes.
“A gun don’t talk. A gun don’t walk,” O’Neil said. “It takes an individual to fire it.”
O’Neil said a firearm recovered in Antigua and Barbuda could potentially be linked through ballistic evidence to multiple murders or armed robberies. Information obtained locally could also help another Caribbean country solve a crime, while evidence shared by another jurisdiction could assist Antiguan and Barbudan investigators.
He said regional gun crime should be treated as an interconnected problem because firearms and criminal networks were not confined by national borders.
The senator also warned that people connected to firearm crimes were not necessarily the ones who pulled the trigger. Some supplied, rented or sold weapons, while others planned operations and directed the people carrying them out, he said.
“A person who finds themselves in gun crime, it does not automatically mean that they pulled the trigger,” O’Neil said. “It can mean that they’re individuals who are renting the firearm, selling the firearm—the mastermind behind the operation.”
He welcomed provisions in the amendment bill targeting people who sell or transfer firearms and ammunition, saying the law must reach beyond gunmen to those supplying weapons and organizing crimes.
O’Neil said some guns circulating in Antigua and Barbuda could have been involved in crimes overseas before entering the country. Weapons used locally could also be sold or transported abroad and later connected to additional offenses, he said.
The senator claimed that a large proportion of people involved in gun offenses were repeat offenders, putting the figure at between 80% and 90%. He did not provide data supporting that estimate during the contribution.
O’Neil argued that tougher firearm laws represented only one part of the response to crime but said Parliament had a responsibility to establish the legal framework under which courts would consider individual cases.
He acknowledged concerns that legislation alone would not solve gun crime, describing the amendments as “only fixing one portion of the pipe.”
The judicial system would still be responsible for applying the law according to the circumstances of each case, he said.
O’Neil also expressed concern about what he described as disproportionate sentences. He referred to a reported case in which a repeat offender received approximately 18 months while another person found with contraband received three years.
“When you see these sorts of disproportionate sentences, it really makes you wonder, what are we doing as a society?” he said.
He commended the prime minister for elevating the crime debate nationally and said the country must use every available tool to prevent its security situation from deteriorating.
“I am sick of it,” O’Neil said, referring to the repeated reports of armed robberies and other gun-related crimes.
The senator said many suspects appearing in recent crime reports were within his age group. He expressed alarm at the types of weapons being displayed in photographs and videos, saying some of the firearms appeared more sophisticated and powerful than people might expect to find in Antigua and Barbuda.
O’Neil said criminal activity had become increasingly organized, with offenders expanding their networks and treating crime as a business.
Some young people might become involved because of peer pressure, gang loyalty or a desire to establish a reputation, but organized crime could also involve planning, financing and the movement of weapons, he said.
“Criminals are getting smarter,” O’Neil said. “They’re expanding their criminal network.”
He pointed to the bill’s treatment of prohibited weapons, which he said included automatic firearms, artillery, grenades, bombs, missiles and weapons designed to discharge harmful liquids or gases.
O’Neil said Antigua and Barbuda must prepare for the possibility that criminals could eventually obtain weapons capable of causing mass casualties.
He also addressed licensed firearms, saying he initially worried that a licensed gun owner whose permit expired could face severe criminal consequences.
However, he noted that licensed firearms had also been used to commit offenses. He said owners who deliberately failed to renew their firearm licenses should face consequences, while suggesting that authorities should distinguish between deliberate noncompliance and an innocent lapse.
O’Neil praised police officers and members of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force for security measures used during Carnival, including searches of people carrying bags.
He said those searches helped to deter people from carrying guns, knives and other prohibited items into crowded public areas.
O’Neil recalled seeing officers search bags and said their visible presence gave members of the public a greater sense of security. He also referred to videos circulating online showing young men carrying backpacks at night and questioned what some of those bags contained.
“What do you have in your bag—a gun, a knife, something that could potentially cause mass destruction in our community?” he asked.
He said the additional scrutiny reflected the changing nature of the threat and the need for law enforcement to adjust its methods.
O’Neil supported the Firearms Amendment Bill while maintaining that enforcement, forensic investment and cooperation with other Caribbean countries would be essential to making the legislation effective.
He said Antigua and Barbuda should strengthen its own forensic capacity, but regional sharing of ballistic evidence could help investigators trace weapons, identify connections between crimes and disrupt the networks moving firearms across borders.
This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: O’Neil urges regional sharing of ballistic evidence to track guns across borders.