A regular Source feature, Undercurrents explores issues, ideas and events as they develop beneath the surface in the Virgin Islands community.
Never mind the widely perceived proliferation of illegal firearms in the territory – where the mention of one or more “unlicensed guns” has become standard in virtually every crime report to hit the airwaves – we have enough perfectly legal, licensed firearms to repel a small invasion.
There are roughly 7,000 gun permits in the Virgin Islands, according to V.I. Police spokeswoman Melody Rames. That’s 4,000 on St. Croix and 3,000 for the St. Thomas-St. John district, or enough to arm 8.8 percent of the adult population.
The 2010 U.S. Census reports St. Croix’s population of residents age 18 and over at 36,570, making the Big Island the leader in the local arms race, with enough gun permits to cover 10.9 percent of its adults. St. Thomas-St. John has more people and fewer gun permits. With an adult population of 42,809, the district’s gun ownership rate is 7 percent.
Of course it isn’t necessarily one gun per person, so those numbers may be somewhat misleading. Some citizens own more than one licensed gun, so the number of actual residents who are legally armed may be a bit smaller than the number of permits.
It’s also worth noting that according to some reports, the U.S. far outstrips all other countries in the world in the number of registered guns. Estimates vary widely, but some are as high as 88 percent, making the territory’s rate look small by comparison to the nation’s, though it is still on the high end for the rest of the world.
Where do all of these guns come from and who’s keeping track of them?
No fewer than three government entities are keeping watch.
In the lead is the federal ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) agency which sets the rules for the sale and transfer of firearms, in accordance with federal laws, throughout the country. Anyone wishing to manufacture, import, sell or otherwise trade in firearms (including a pawnbroker) must obtain a Federal Firearms License from ATF.
The process typically takes about 60 days, according to the ATF website. It starts with filling out an application and answering such questions as “Are you a stalker?” and “If you were in the military, what was your serial number and were you dishonorably discharged?” Convicted felons need not apply.
Then ATF conducts a background check and a face-to-face interview with the applicant before issuing a FFL. One thing ATF wants to establish is that the applicant knows and will comply with laws in the given jurisdiction that may be more stringent than the federal laws.
The Virgin Islands’ two ATF offices – one on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix – are part of the Miami division and coordinate with a field office in Puerto Rico. Personnel from the field office conduct FFL interviews for V.I. applicants, according to St. Thomas agent Steve Waters, but he and the staff stationed within the territory (two agents in each of the two districts) monitor sales and investigate firearms crime.
“We help out if there are criminal violations,” he said.
Like any other commercial venture, a gun dealership must have a business license. The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs issues that, assuming the proprietor has a valid FFL and is in compliance with applicable local laws and regulations such as zoning restrictions and fire codes.
“We’re the third” step in the process, Rames said, describing the role of the V.I. Police Department, which includes conducting its own background check on the dealer and assessing the business with an eye toward storage and security.
Firearms may not be displayed in a storefront or be visible to people passing by the location, she said. Automatic weapons and assault weapons are not legal, but semi-automatic guns are legal.
The V.I. Code provides for a 48-hour waiting period for sales and that the firearm must be delivered “unloaded and securely wrapped.” Ammunition sales may be only for the type of firearm that is licensed.
Police control over the process is focused more on the buyer than the seller.
V.I. law prohibits the sale of a firearm to anyone who does not already have a gun permit and those are issued by the police under strict regulations.
“A private citizen may obtain a firearms license once they complete a background check, (and) have a safe to store the weapon,” Rames said. “The Police commissioner must review the application and he gives the final approval. The person cannot be convicted of a felony, cannot have been charged with domestic violence.”
The applicant also must prove his/her ability to handle the firearm. “A certified instructor from a local licensed firing range conducts the training and the firearms qualifications,” Rames said. “The VIPD keeps a record of the results.”
Once all requirements are met, Rames said, “the citizen receives an official voucher from the commissioner which he takes to the dealer as his authorization to purchase a firearm.”
Then, according to a dealer, the purchaser must go back to the police to have them verify that the gun matches the paperwork from the dealer. Only then is the permit actually issued and only then can the dealer sell the customer ammunition for the gun.
The permit is good for three years; for convenience renewals are on the holder’s birthday. “License holders are encouraged to renew their licenses one month before the expiration date,” Rames said.
So how many gun dealers are in the territory?
Currently there are four on St. Thomas, one on St. John, and either five or six on St. Croix, Waters said. “We haven’t had any new FFLs on the island (St. Thomas) for quite some time …I think for about five years.”
Local authorities appear reluctant to release the names and locations of dealers. Rames said police keep a listing of them but “the list is fluid.” She deferred to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.
Licensing officials said they have a listing readily available and would email it. But two weeks and several followup calls later, they still had not provided the list.
It is unclear whether they had security concerns, but at least one dealer is listed in the yellow pages of the local phone book.
Sandra Tate of Blade and Key Center handled the administrative side of her husband Edward Trupp’s FFL dealership for more than 20 years and is intimately aware of the business. She said she hasn’t noticed a change in the number of sales over that time. The most common reason stated for gun purchases hasn’t changed either: home protection.
Tate was especially complimentary of the firearms training course and suggested that, if young people took it, they would learn a healthy respect for guns that many seem to lack.
“The legal gun business here in the Virgin Islands is very well regulated,” she said.
Waters returned the compliment, saying V.I. dealers are cooperative with the ATF.
“We have a very good relationship with them,” he said.
Dealers are subject to a full ATF inspection once a year, Waters said. But there is considerably more interaction throughout the year, including spot checks.
Dealers must maintain an acquisition and disposition record in which they record all transactions, including the name, age and place of residence of purchasers. They must cooperate with ATF agents when they are tracking a firearm, and they must report to ATF if they sell two or more guns to an individual at the same time or within a five-day period. When a dealer discontinues business, he must give his records to the ATF.
