Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley says Barbados’ existing laws are too weak to properly punish those who unleash gun violence in public spaces.
Throwing his support behind the Domestic Terrorism Bill, 2026, in the House of Assembly yesterday, he argued that the current Public Order Act, though it created the offence of violent disorder, carried penalties too light to match the danger posed by armed attackers – a maximum of seven years in prison or a $50 000 fine. A seasoned criminal defence attorney, he pointed to the case of the men charged with violent disorder and endangering life in the Kadooment Day shooting in 2017 on the then Spring Garden Highway (now the Mighty Grynner Highway), saying evidentiary problems made that case difficult to prosecute and, even with a conviction, the sentence would not have reflected the harm done.
In contrast, he said, the new Bill sets out fixed, stringent penalties rather than leaving sentencing entirely to judicial discretion, giving prosecutors an additional tool to pursue gang members and others who open fire in crowded public settings.
The minister rejected the idea that the Bill was merely symbolic, insisting its penalties will carry real deterrent weight and reflect the Government’s commitment to citizen security and public safety. He described the measure as a landmark piece of legislation, comparable to the Government’s earlier anti-gun laws, adding it reflects a broader effort to reform the criminal justice system rather than simply add another charge to the books.
Lashley singled out the shooting incident at a crowded Sheraton Mall as the kind of episode the Bill is designed to address, attacks that endanger families and bystanders attending festivals, street fairs and community gatherings. He warned that such incidents have already forced law enforcement to reconsider approving permits for public events, calling this a troubling sign for community life in Barbados.
The Member of Parliament for The City described the legislation as targeting not just illegal firearm possession but the reckless and violent use of firearms in public, framing its core offence around three elements: recklessness, intent and conduct that endangers public safety. He said the law is meant to ensure that gunmen who fire “recklessly” in public settings face a separate, additional charge of domestic terrorism on top of whatever other offence they are charged with.
He placed the Bill within a wider package of reforms he said were reshaping the justice system, including amendments tied to the Bail Act, Firearms Act, Gun Court Act, changes to the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, and new witness protection legislation. Together, he said, these measures are meant to strengthen the State’s ability to prosecute violent crime while protecting the public from acts of “lawlessness and recklessness”.
(BA)