News
Tourists Leaving with Criminal Records; TCI Judge calls for Attention to Worrying Trend
Deandrea Hamilton & Dana Malcolm
Editorial Staff
#TurksandCaicos, August 18, 2023 – Experiential tourism is taking a negative twist for too many guest families as increasingly, Americans legally licensed to carry arms at home are being caught leaving the Turks and Caicos Islands with those guns, where to have them is against the law and carries a mandatory 12 years in prison.
Now, a local Judge is demanding that authorities pay attention to the trend and work assiduously to ensure information available to gun-owners from the TCI’s largest source market – the United States of America – are aware that liberties there are not necessarily liberties here.
In recent weeks, the British Overseas territory has seen four tourists hauled before the courts, facing illegal firearms charges.
“His Lordship, The Hon Justice Chris Selochan sent a strong suggestive message with suggestive directions and observation, that there needs to be information or communication on the TCI Tourist Board website advising visitors/travelers of our laws in the TCI and that they cannot travel to the TCI with a firearm nor ammunition,” Wilkie Arthur, Magnetic Media Court Correspondent reported.
Arthur was in the Magistrate’s Court as the warning was issued during the hearing of Alec Nash, an American man who entered the country on vacation with his licensed firearm on the advice of his airline, but was arrested when he tried to leave with his US-registered weapon.
The minimum sentence for illegal gun possession in the Turks and Caicos Islands is 12 years imprisonment and following a very heated debate where the prosecution argued heavily for Nash to serve jail time in the TCI, the judge made the call to uphold a precedent where non-residents to TCI found with illegal guns and ammunition are
The judge had a warning for airlines.
“He also advised that all the airlines travelling to and from the TCI must be given some strong warning that they must tell travellers that they cannot come to the TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS with firearms and ammunition.”
The arrest of so many American tourists for possession of guns, which they are legally licensed to carry in their home country is also a bad look for tourism. Coming on holiday, the least of a vacationer’s expectation is that they would end up with a serious criminal record.
Nash, an insurance agent with no criminal priors, was charged with a $5,000 fine, which he paid, and swiftly left the country as the judge agreed his circumstances were exceptional. Had the prosecution won the case, the man could have spent years in prison because he was ill-informed about the country’s gun laws.
Similar occurrences were observed in the case of David Carrol O’Connor, who was found with 44 rounds of ammunition at the Providenciales International Airport. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on May 16th, 2023 to a fine of $6,670.00 or 90 days imprisonment.
Then there was Alex Guzman of Wyoming, who was found with a firearm and ammunition at the Providenciales International Airport. He pleaded guilty on June 2nd, 2023 and was sentenced to a fine of $3,500.00 or 60 days imprisonment.
Each tourist was held as they exited Turks and Caicos with their legally registered, US firearms packed in their bags.
It may also fall to visitors to do more research before bringing their weapons on holiday, especially given the severe penalty attached to illegal gun and ammo possession in the islands.
A Google search of “can I bring my gun to Turks and Caicos?” showed the ‘Visit Turks and Caicos’ website does have a warning that states, in order “to bring in firearms of any type (including spear guns and Hawaiian slings), you must have written approval from the Commissioner of Police.”
Yet, supporting links on this information are poorly positioned and therefore could be easily missed.
Moreover, if passengers feel they have been properly advised by their airline about how to travel with their US licensed weapon, they are far less likely to be inclined to even run a subsequent search.
As this article hits ‘the press’, there is a fourth matter before the TCI court where an American man was remanded to prison until a sufficiency hearing in October. Michael Grim was arrested at the Providenciales International Airport for possession of ammunition. Grim is expected to apply for bail.