We've already covered all the headline news coming out of today's House Meeting in Belmopan - but the House Business also had some big news. First was the passage of the Firearms Amendment Bill - which is to rationalize gun possession laws, the make it so that persons who may have been wrongfully detained can get bail. The Leader of the opposition said that he thinks it still doesn't go far enough in relaxing the punitive provisions of the law:..
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of The Opposition
"It still remains that section 6A of the firearm act we believe is unconstitutional; it infringes the presumption of innocence, it still throws a very wide net on a wide class of innocent citizens because we believe that while the current amendment is a step in the right direction, it does not in fact cure and address the real problem that is really at the root of the outcry that the public has about this matter."
Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of Nat'l Security
"We considered the position on the matter of bail by the magistrate and Cabinet has agreed to make an amendment on the committee of the whole that would allow for first time offenders to apply directly to the magistrate for bail, while other convicted criminals in certain areas of the law will still have to wait the 10 days waiting period and apply to the supreme court for bail."
That bill was passed by the House today and must now go to the Senate.
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