CTUSAB Calls for End to Civilian Firearm Licenses in Barbados Amid Rising Gun Violence Debate

As gun violence continues to threaten the safety and stability of Barbadian society, the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) has stepped forward with a bold recommendation: end the issuance of civilian firearm licences and restrict gun ownership to national security forces.

It’s a proposal that has sparked widespread debate.

CTUSAB President Ryan Phillips laid out the union’s concerns about the increasing presence of firearms on the island and the seeming inability to stem their illegal flow into the country. Barbados does not manufacture guns, yet their proliferation continues. CTUSAB questions how, despite improvements to security and surveillance at the Bridgetown Port and the Grantley Adams International Airport, illegal firearms still enter the country with such regularity.

Pointing to the country’s miles of accessible coastline, an uptick in private yacht traffic, and container unloading outside official surveillance zones, Phillips described a challenging landscape for law enforcement — one complicated further by the emergence of polymer-based weapons that can evade traditional detection methods.

CTUSAB isn’t calling for the confiscation of legally owned firearms. Instead, the union is urging a freeze on the issuance of new civilian gun licenses. “We believe that the individual right to own a gun should be restricted to state law enforcement and protection agencies,” said Phillips. Such a policy shift, he argued, would make Barbados a regional leader in gun control and could signal a broader commitment to public safety.

The presence of more firearms — even legally owned ones — introduces additional risk. Accidental shootings, domestic violence escalations, and firearms being stolen and used in crimes are all real dangers. In this view, fewer guns in civilian hands mean fewer opportunities for tragedy.

However, Gary Field, secretary of the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association, pushed back against the idea that restricting legal ownership will help solve the country’s gun crisis, noting that “the violence being committed is not with licensed firearms”.

He argued that energy would be better spent addressing the real source of the problem — the illegal gun trade. “Give the police more resources. Give the Coast Guard more resources. That’s where the battle is,” he argued.

He also pointed to the growing brazenness of gun crime, including shootings in public spaces and the deaths of innocent children, as signs of a deeper societal crisis — one that won’t be solved by targeting law-abiding citizens.