OVER 100 guns granted under the tenure of three former police commissioners – Stephen Williams, Gary Griffith and McDonald Jacob –­ have been used to commit crimes of murder, robberies and suicides.

And intelligence from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other foreign agencies suggest that 30 guns imported by authorised gun dealers have ended up in the hands of criminals and used in at least one instance to commit murder.

These alarming claims were made by Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher in a sworn statement filed in the High Court two weeks ago in response to a lawsuit of gun dealer Towfeek Ali who is seeking permission to import 3,654,000 rounds of ammunition.

The CoP raised serious national security concerns and the stability of the country over such imports, the poor accounting records of guns and ammunition imported, the possession of "military-grade" guns and 5.56 and 7.62 ammunition in the hands of civilians which can pierce wood, concrete, metal and body armour worn by police.

She disclosed incomplete statistics between 2016-2022 which show the quantity of guns and ammunition imported by gun dealers for "non-law enforcement purposes" skyrocketed with an all time high in 2020 of 57.2 million rounds, "almost 44 times the population" of TT.

The figures reveal in 2016 – 81 import permits were granted allowing 55 registered gun dealers to bring in 1,620 guns and 6,170,325 rounds of ammunition; in 2017 – 54 permits were approved allowing dealers to import 1,666 guns and 4,756,075 rounds of ammunition; in 2018 – some 91 permits were approved to import 5,422 guns and 2,642,022 rounds of ammunition; in 2019 – some 150 permits were granted to import 2, 750 guns and 8,357,785 rounds of ammunition; in 2020 approved import permits jumped to 306 allowing gun dealers to bring in 64,553 guns and 57,194,173 rounds of ammunition; in 2021 the number of import permits went down to 115 allowing dealers to bring in 43,557 guns and 18,899,000 rounds of ammunition, and in 2022 only 35 import permits were approved allowing dealers to bring in 2,701 guns and 8,676,746 rounds of ammunition.

"Should criminal elements target any of these dealerships they would find a large store of firearms, ammunition and components/accessories which could seriously threaten the safety of the public and the stability of the country," Harewood-Christopher said.

Information from the Customs and Excise Division for the six-year period to determine the actual number of guns and ammunition for "non-law enforcement purposes," is yet to be provided to the police, according to Harewood-Christopher.

The CoP said the presence of "military-grade guns and ammunition" in the hands of criminals posed a serious challenge to the police but noted those types of guns "continue to enter the country legally and illegally." She also raised concern about the number of rounds civilians were permitted to carry, some up to 1,000 rounds for each weapon, "creating an ease of access to ammunition and the