Only qualified individuals who are already experienced firearm holders and are active participants in target sport shooting are eligible for applying for consideration to be granted a licence to buy a semi-automatic rifle, according to the police service.

A statement issued on Saturday sought to justify the Commissioner of Police's (CoP) granting of licences to civilians to use rifles carrying 5.56 or 7.62 ammunition, normally used by the military and tactical unit of the police, for sport target shooting.

It said as part of the application process a letter and or recommendation from a recognised outdoor shooting range must accompany the variation form for which the Commissioner of Police has the authority to approve once satisfied of the intent of use.

Under the three-year tenure of CoP Gary Griffith, over 100 licences have been granted to civilians to purchase semi-automatic rifles and there has been an increase in the number of approved gun dealers and shooting ranges across the country.

According to the statement only authorised firearm dealers have been granted permission to import firearms of rifle calibre for supply to qualified and approved individuals for the purpose of participation on target sport shooting events. Dealers are only granted permission to import 5.56/7.62 rifles in the semi-automatic configuration direct from the manufacturers as stipulated by the firearms Act Chapter 16:01. The Firearms Act prohibits civilians from owning an "automatic firearm" - any firearm so designed or adapted that if pressure is applied to the trigger missiles continue to be discharged until pressure is removed from the trigger or until the magazine containing the missiles is empty.

Under the provisions of the act a "prohibited weapon" can be interpreted to be an "automatic firearm" which is considered a restricted item in the hands of a civilian, the statement said.

"Semi-automatic firearms although having an identical appearance to the fully automatic versions are not functionally the same in terms of the rate of fire and intention of application and use. A semi-automatic firearm is primarily designed for civilian use whilst a fully automatic version which is designed and manufactured for military application. At a glance, a semi-automatic rifle may appear to any lay citizen to be an automatic weapon in a general sense as they share the same aesthetic form and components," it said.

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