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During parliamentary debate on the 2026 Firearms Amendment Bill, a senior Antigua and Barbuda lawmaker has sounded a urgent warning over a growing public safety threat on the island of Barbuda, linking a recent surge in home break-ins to the relocation of recently released prison inmates from Antigua.

Trevor Walker, the Member of Parliament for Barbuda, told lawmakers that a growing number of individuals who have completed custodial sentences for criminal offenses in Antigua have relocated to the smaller sister island, and many are legally required to check in regularly with local law enforcement. Walker noted that on any given day, three to four of these former inmates are required to sign in at the Barbuda police station, a pattern that he says has coincided with a sharp uptick in property crime across the island.

Where once break-ins were a rare occurrence, Walker stated that Barbuda now faces at least one home invasion every week, a trend that has upended the island’s historically quiet, low-crime way of life. To illustrate the severity of the issue, Walker shared details of a recent break-in at a property owned by a relative of his wife, who resides permanently in the United States. He told lawmakers that the intruder did not just steal valuables from the vacant home, but appeared to have begun occupying the property as if it were their own. Local police launched an investigation into the incident, Walker confirmed, and identified the primary suspect as a repeat offender with a prior criminal charge on record.

Despite his deep concern over rising crime, Walker was quick to highlight the exceptional work of the Barbuda-based police force, offering specific public praise for Inspector Ogaro, the island’s lead law enforcement officer. Walker described Ogaro as the most proactive and effective inspector he has seen assigned to Barbuda in his tenure in office, noting that the inspector personally leads regular patrols of high-traffic areas including the island’s port and airport, and directly intervenes when he observes open illegal activity.

To further strengthen local law enforcement capacity, Walker has formally called on the national government to deploy additional police vehicles to Barbuda, a move that would allow officers to respond faster to emergency calls and expand the scope of their patrols across the island.

The concerns raised by Walker have formed the backbone of his strong support for the 2026 Firearms Amendment Bill, which introduces tougher regulations and penalties for firearm-related and violent crime across Antigua and Barbuda. The lawmaker stressed that he holds a zero-tolerance stance for the armed robberies, shootings, and homicides that have impacted Antigua in recent years, and emphasized that Parliament carries a constitutional and moral responsibility to address rising crime head-on to protect Antigua and Barbuda’s reputation as a safe jurisdiction for residents and visitors alike.

Walker also publicly disclosed that he is a licensed firearm holder, and affirmed that he will exercise his legal right to defend himself, his family, and his property from any criminal intruder. Closing his remarks, Walker urged his fellow parliamentarians to approach the national crime crisis with the gravity it demands, saying, “This crime thing is really serious.”

As parliamentary debate opened this week on the landmark Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2026, Antigua and Barbuda’s opposition leader Jamale Pringle has delivered a nuanced call for a holistic, multi-pronged response to the nation’s growing gun violence crisis, arguing that harsher prison sentences alone cannot reverse rising criminal activity.

Pringle opened his address to the House of Representatives on Monday affirming his backing for stringent punishment for individuals who commit serious violent offenses using illegal firearms. “There’s no doubt that persons who commit serious crimes with firearms should face the full extent of the law,” he told lawmakers. But he immediately pushed back against framing the sentencing reforms in the bill as a standalone “saving grace” for the country’s security challenges, warning that deep-rooted social and systemic drivers of crime cannot be addressed through punishment alone.

One of the most alarming trends Pringle highlighted is the steadily declining age of individuals involved in serious gun-related crime, a shift he said points to a much broader, unaddressed social crisis. “The age group is getting younger and younger,” he noted, arguing that this trend demands proactive intervention rather than only reactive punishment after crimes are committed.

While Parliament moves to extend sentences to keep convicted firearm offenders behind bars for longer periods, Pringle argued that equal priority must be given to cutting off the supply of illegal guns at the source and preventing at-risk youth from entering criminal activity in the first place. He raised pointed questions about the effectiveness of past government commitments to boost policing, border surveillance, and forensic investigative capabilities, specifically calling out gaps in the nation’s forensic infrastructure. Pringle asked whether Antigua and Barbuda’s national forensic laboratory is fully operational, or if critical evidence still must be shipped overseas for analysis — a delay that can undermine successful prosecutions.

He also drew attention to a major gap in post-seizure investigation: after law enforcement seizes illegal weapons, little public information is provided about efforts to trace the guns back to their smuggling networks. Pringle emphasized that tracing every recovered firearm is a critical step to “plug the holes” in border security and dismantle the transnational trafficking rings that supply illegal guns to Antigua and Barbuda. To address this gap, he called for the establishment of a dedicated firearm tracing unit within the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda, if one does not already exist, with a mandate to trace every seized weapon from the person caught in possession back through the entire supply chain to the original manufacturer. He also urged deeper collaboration with regional and international law enforcement agencies to target these transnational networks, and called for investment in stronger detection capabilities at Customs to stop illegal guns from entering the country in the first place.

Beyond investigative and border enforcement reforms, Pringle stressed that even the strongest legislation is useless if law enforcement agencies lack the resources to catch and prosecute offenders. “If you cannot catch the criminal, this bill serves no purpose,” he said, referencing longstanding complaints from police about resource shortages and arguing that sustained, adequate investment in enforcement agencies is non-negotiable for any gun crime strategy to work. Echoing the government’s own public position that border security is a core pillar of countering gun crime — which recently led the Cabinet to approve the purchase of specialized detection dogs for the country’s ports — Pringle noted that the effectiveness of new sentencing rules depends entirely on the resources allocated to enforce them. “If we’re just going to pass this to deal with the people who we catch with firearms and there’s no effort in going after the persons who are importing these firearms into Antigua and Barbuda, we’re wasting time in here,” he said. “The ultimate goal must be to ensure that firearms are not imported into Antigua and Barbuda.”

To address the social roots of rising youth involvement in crime, Pringle called for major new investment in community infrastructure that gives young people positive alternatives to loitering on street corners, where they are far more likely to be exposed to criminal recruitment and activity. He argued that reducing gun violence requires tackling the underlying social conditions that push people into crime, rather than only responding after offenses have been committed. He also called for comprehensive reform of the country’s prison system, noting that current facilities often leave incarcerated people worse off than when they entered, with little focus on rehabilitation that can reduce recidivism. Additionally, he raised urgent concerns about rising hard drug use among young people and its damaging impacts on mental health, calling for systemic investigation into the root causes of the crisis.

In closing, Pringle emphasized that the Firearms (Amendment) Bill should be treated as one component of a broad national strategy, not a complete solution to the country’s gun crime problem. Notably, his position overlaps with key parts of the governing administration’s stated approach: the Cabinet has previously acknowledged that enforcement alone cannot address the social conditions driving youth violence, and has identified families, schools, faith institutions, community groups, and social service agencies as key partners in prevention efforts. The Firearms (Amendment) Bill is just one part of a wider package of government measures to respond to rising gun violence, with the administration saying the legislation will strengthen sentencing rules while being paired with increased investment in policing, investigative, and forensic capabilities.

In a charged parliamentary address Monday, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne delivered broad criticism of criminal defense attorneys and members of the national judiciary, tying his claims directly to a sweeping new legislative push to clamp down on firearm-related crime through harsher, mandatory minimum sentencing.

Speaking during ongoing debate in the House of Representatives over the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2026, Browne opened his remarks by repeating long-held complaints that the region’s sentencing framework has grown far too lenient for violent and repeat offenders, arguing that lax punishment is putting public safety at risk. He claimed that too many defense attorneys prioritize the interests of their accused clients and their own financial gain over community safety, opening a broader rebuke of the legal profession.

The prime minister referenced an uncorroborated complaint he said was brought to his attention by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), alleging that a single unnamed defense attorney had attempted to undermine ongoing prosecutorial work. He offered no identifying information about the attorney, no concrete context for the alleged conduct, and confirmed that no charges or convictions have been filed against the individual. Browne added he had instructed the DPP to pursue disciplinary or legal action if the attorney engages in similar behavior again.

Expanding his criticism to attorneys who have publicly pushed back against his past attacks on the judiciary, Browne claimed without evidence that a number of these critics are themselves engaged in corrupt practice. He argued that many defense attorneys support lenient sentencing simply because it benefits the clients they represent, a position that he says puts private interest ahead of public good.

Browne’s criticism of lenient sentencing is not new. In recent weeks, he has repeatedly argued that short custodial sentences for serious violent and repeat offenses are driving a cycle of crime across the region. Just last week, he went public with claims that the Caribbean judiciary has settled into what he called a “lenient sentencing orthodoxy” that erodes public safety. Back in August, he requested the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s chief justice launch an independent review of sentencing practices for firearm offenses, violent crime, and repeat offending, with a scope that also includes examination of charging practices, prosecution protocols, bail policies, remand procedures, and rehabilitation programs.

On Monday, he extended his critical remarks directly to the judiciary, while attempting to preempt accusations of threatening judicial independence. “I respect judicial independence and do not want conflict among the branches of government,” Browne told lawmakers, “but judicial independence should not prevent Parliament from legislating tougher sentences.”

He explained that the core goal of the 2026 amendment bill is to deliberately curtail judicial sentencing discretion, a power the government says has been repeatedly abused to hand down overly lenient punishments across the Caribbean. “We do accept that to ensure justice, that they must have some discretion,” Browne said, “but Parliament has come specifically to curb that discretion” because of persistent abuse.

The prime minister emphasized that the executive, legislative and judicial branches hold separate constitutional mandates, but all share a core common objective: protecting public safety. He pushed back against what he described as unreasonably short sentences for serious firearm offenses, calling out 10-month, one-year, and two-year sentences that conflict with what lawmakers have repeatedly signaled is the intended severity of punishment for these crimes. The new legislation is designed to codify Parliament’s expectation for harsher punishment in clear, binding terms.

Under the proposed reforms, specified firearm offenses will carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years when heard in Magistrates’ Court and 15 years when heard in the High Court, while the maximum penalty for some offenses will be raised to 30 years. The bill does carve out a narrow exception for exceptional circumstances, where judges may deviate from the statutory minimum if imposing that minimum would be manifestly unjust, unreasonable, or excessive. Any judge who uses this exception would be required to formally document and certify their reasoning for departing from the mandatory minimum, a transparency measure Browne says adds accountability to the process.

The prime minister stressed that the government is not seeking to impose disproportionate punishments, but rather to correct what he frames as the far greater problem of disproportionately lenient sentences that fail to protect the public. “This intervention is necessary to protect the public and reduce repeat offending,” he said of the mandatory minimum framework.

In addition to the sentencing reforms, the Browne administration has already taken steps to strengthen prosecutorial capacity. Cabinet has previously approved the recruitment of up to five new attorneys to join the DPP’s prosecution team, alongside funding for specialized prosecutor training and scholarships for two sitting police officers to complete legal studies before joining the DPP’s office.

Debate on the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2026 remains ongoing in the House of Representatives, with no final vote scheduled as of Monday’s proceedings.

In a bold policy shift announced on Monday during parliamentary debate over sweeping firearms legislation, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda outlined plans to strengthen the country’s crime response by targeting naturalized citizens convicted of serious offenses. The new measure, already approved by the Cabinet, will allow the government to revoke citizenship granted through naturalization after offenders complete their prison sentences, followed by immediate deportation.

Browne made the announcement while speaking in the House of Representatives about the 2026 Firearms (Amendment) Bill, a piece of legislation designed to introduce harsher mandatory sentences for gun-related crimes. Opening his remarks, the prime minister emphasized that all foreign residents and naturalized citizens are expected to abide by the nation’s laws, noting that immigration authorities already operate under standing orders to deport non-citizen felons once their sentences are finished. Now, the government intends to extend this enforcement framework to cover people who have gone through the naturalization process to become citizens.

Initially referencing the policy as applying to “heinous crimes,” Browne later clarified that the revocation power will apply to any serious crime committed by naturalized citizens. “Those who naturalise and become citizens and commit crimes, certain crimes in this country, cannot commit any serious crime in this country. We will revoke citizenship and deport them,” he stated during the parliamentary session. The prime minister stressed that his appearance during the debate was intended to publicly notify communities, particularly immigrant populations, of the new regulation that has already been formalized by the Cabinet. “That decision has been taken by the Cabinet already, and I’m sensitising the public, especially our immigrants, because they must know the reason behind it,” he added.

To counter any perception that the policy targets immigrant groups, Browne highlighted the inclusive track record of his administration, pointing to past government amnesty programs that allowed thousands of undocumented immigrants to regularize their immigration status and ultimately pursue citizenship. “We’re not targeting immigrants,” Browne said, noting that his government has long maintained an open and accommodating approach to immigrant communities. “Where they become a threat to public safety, we are duty bound to do whatever is necessary to keep this country safe,” he explained, adding that citizenship revocation will remain a core tool in the government’s crime prevention strategy, alongside the existing routine deportation of convicted non-citizens.

The policy announcement came as part of the government’s broader push to combat rising crime and violence across the twin-island nation. The 2026 Firearms (Amendment) Bill at the center of the parliamentary debate proposes mandatory minimum prison sentences for a range of firearms offenses: five-year minimum sentences for cases heard in the Magistrates’ Court, 15-year minimums for cases tried in the High Court, and maximum penalties of up to 30 years for the most severe offenses. Browne told parliament that violent crime, particularly offending involving young people, has emerged as one of the most pressing challenges facing Antigua and Barbuda, and that solving the crisis requires coordinated action from government, law enforcement agencies, households, and all segments of civil society. Debate on the firearms bill is ongoing in the House of Representatives as legislators work to advance the government’s public safety agenda.