Parliament has amended the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2026 to remove proposed prison terms for licensed firearm holders who fail to renew their licences, replacing them with fines of up to EC$5,000 or EC$10,000 depending on how the case is tried.

The change was made Monday as lawmakers considered the bill clause by clause during the committee stage.

The original proposal would have allowed a person who had been granted a firearm licence but failed to keep it current to face imprisonment.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne objected to that approach, arguing that someone who had legitimately obtained a firearm licence should not face imprisonment simply because the licence had not been renewed on time.

“I don’t like the fact that you’re going to prison if you’re a licensed firearm holder,” Browne said during the committee discussion.

Lawmakers ultimately agreed to remove imprisonment for that particular violation.

Under the amended Clause 3, the penalty will instead be a fine not exceeding EC$5,000 on summary conviction and a fine not exceeding EC$10,000 on conviction on indictment.

“So we take out imprisonment for the licence,” Browne said as the provision was settled.

The change does not apply to people who possess firearms without having been granted a licence. The bill continues to provide significantly tougher prison sentences for unlawful firearm possession and other serious gun offences.

Lawmakers also agreed to modify the proposed treatment of imitation firearms.

During committee, Browne argued that there should be a distinction between circumstances involving an imitation firearm and cases where one is used to commit an aggravated robbery.

The committee agreed to introduce a tiered approach, with the more severe punishment applying where an imitation firearm is used during an aggravated robbery. The provision under discussion provided for imprisonment of between 15 and 30 years on indictment.

Another amendment concerned the circumstances in which a court could address a prescribed minimum sentence.

The draft referred to cases in which imposing the minimum penalty would be “manifestly excessive and unjust.” During committee, lawmakers agreed to add the word “unreasonable,” expanding the wording to cover a sentence considered “manifestly excessive, unreasonable and unjust.”

There was also discussion about increasing the proposed minimum sentence for firearm importation from five years to 10 years. Browne argued that five years was insufficient for people responsible for bringing illegal guns into the country.

However, the parliamentary transcript does not clearly establish that the proposed increase was ultimately incorporated into the bill, so it was not among the amendments that could be definitively confirmed from the proceedings.

After the changes were settled, clauses three through 11 were approved as amended.

The House then resumed, with the committee reporting that the Firearms (Amendment) Bill 2026 had passed the committee stage “with some amendments.”

The committee report was adopted before the bill proceeded to third reading and was passed by the House.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Parliament Drops Prison Term for Late Firearm Licence Renewal, Opts for Fines.