Matters relating to firearms in Jersey

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS BY DEPUTY G.C.L. BAUDAINS OF ST. CLEMENT

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 28th MARCH 2006

Question

Would the Minister advise -

(a ) h ow many M2 Brownings are currently held in the Island by individuals, and the weight of each of

those guns?

(b ) w  hether there are any other firearms held in the Island that could bring an aircraft down and, if so,

what are they?

( c) w  hen the concerns recently reported in the media regarding the licensing of firearms were first

raised?

(d ) t he date when the matter was raised with her and who briefed her?

( e ) w  hether she briefed the media and, if not, is she aware who did, and the reasons why States

members were not notified beforehand?

(f )  w hat research has been undertaken, if any, into the correlation between gun crime and legitimate gun

ownership in Jersey? and,

(g ) w hat changes, if any, will be made to current firearms legislation and how will this be achieved? Answer

1. From Central Firearms Indexrecords, there are three deactivated Browningheavy machine guns currently held in the Island; it is notknownif they arethe M2 version but they would look very similar. Theone weapon actually held,and of concern,is a Styer bolt action rifle that fires the .50 BMG (Browning machine gun) round. The potential effects are similar; a devastating performance against light armouredvehiclesat a range of a mile,and three miles in the case of unprotectedtargets.TheStyer can infactfirethe.50round more accurately and further than theM2 Browning. The unloaded weightof the weapon held intheislandis approximately 9kg.
2. It is notpossible to give an accurate answer.Thereareover500 different types of calibre ofammunition licensed  in  the Island, many  of which have  the  capability  to  bring down an  aircraft.  Whether such consequences would ensuedepends upon many factors such asthesizeof the aircraft, the range of the firing, the impact point, the trajectory andsoon.
3. Specific concernsabout the presenceofweapons such as this in the Island were raised in January2006 to the Chief Officer,States of Jersey Police, who promptly raised this withme and the Assistant Minister.The seriousness of the concernswas recognised byall parties and a numberof actions were initiated. These included the instigation of a States of Jersey Police report ontheissue, (which has only just been completed), together with an internal States of Jersey Police Force Inspectorate reviewonlocalcompliance with the Cullen recommendations,whichwere established following the Dunblanemassacre.Contactwasalsomade at this time with the Education,Sport and Culture Departmentwhichconsequently commissioned a U.K. expert to inspect their shooting facilities andtoreport back on various issues. Thisreport would include the suitability of local ranges for the useof high velocityfirearms with a view to establishing whether ornot reasons givenfor the possessionofsuchweaponswouldbeinvalid,hence perhaps providing grounds for weapon deactivation and recall ofammunition.Thisreporthasyettobecompleted.

At around the same time, albeit not initiated by such specific concerns, the Comité des Connétable s had requested guidance from H.M. Attorney General on the implementation of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000. The Comité is awaiting the Attorney General's response.

4. The Chief Officer, Statesof Jersey Police, met with meand the Assistant Minister on the 25th January 2006, where actions were initiated, asdetailed in (c) above.
5. The media were not "briefed" assuch.Questionshad been put to the Deputy Chief Officer, States of Jersey Police, by the Jersey EveningPostfollowing the 10th anniversaryoftheDunblanemassacre,andsuch interest in firearmson this anniversary was not unexpected.Guidedbythe Freedom of Information codes introduced by the States, subsequentlegal advice, and guidance from the Data Protection Registrar, following further requests for details the Deputy Chief Officer, States of Jersey Police considered hewas obliged to answer the questionsand provide the information whichhadbeenrequestedofhim.

O  ther information was withheld on the basis that it would hamper the prevention of crime and endanger

public safety, and also because it was personal data. The answer to part (c) shows that a great deal of background work was already underway owing to the seriousness of the concerns that had been raised in January, and that at the time of the press interest not all of this work was complete. As such, I was not in a position to bring the findings and recommendations before the States and would not have wanted to present the Assembly with incomplete information.

6. Thankfully, crime in Jersey involving real firearms is extremely rare. Owing to this, anattemptatany correlation would be very difficult andany results obtained would be statistically inconclusive.
7. I have initiated a review of Article 33 of the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000, which lists weapons and ammunitionwhich are prohibited in Jersey, in orderto assess whetheraddingother categories ofweaponand ammunitionwillenhancepublic safety.

T h e Firearms Law Liaison Group, under the chairmanship of the Assistant Minister, will also be reviewing

whether, in the light of experience of administering the Law, there are other provisions which should be tightened up.