U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Says Gun Control Policies Have ‘Totally Failed’

U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. has some harsh words for the gun control policies in the territory, and is calling for a complete revamp of its gun laws in order to make it easier for folks to lawfully keep and bear arms. 

While speaking with the Virgin Islands Consortium newspaper on Wednesday, Bryan was asked how the government can address illegal guns coming into the territory and offered a pretty surprising response for a Democratic politician. 

“What happens is – when you tell somebody no, the temptation is more,” Governor Bryan argued, referring to the territory’s strict gun ownership regulations. “The states with the toughest gun laws get the highest homicide rates,” he declared.

“I think we should move to a place where we open gun ranges that are legal and we make it easier for people to license and carry firearms,” Governor Bryan stated. He argued that the percentage of Virgin Islanders who carry unregistered weapons for reasons of ill-intent is very small, while the majority of residents carry firearms because “they’re trying to protect themselves, or feel protected.”

Kudos to the governor for recognizing that making it harder to legally own and use firearms has little impact on violent offenders. Bryan went even further, pointing out that the restrictive gun laws in the territory may actually foster illegal gun ownership since it’s so difficult to legally possess a firearm. 

However, many people “can’t get a legal gun, because the system [requires so much] rigmarole in order to get these legal guns,” Governor Bryan said. “Then you could only get a rifle, you got to leave it home.” He envisioned “a system that wasn’t so resistant, where you could go to a range, you take a gun class, you get a ticket to purchase a firearm, you get it registered and licensed, we have the ballistics on it, then it wouldn’t have any need for all these illegal guns coming into the territory, right?”

Now, I’d say the licensing and registration requirements that Bryan envisions are still problematic, but it’s still refreshing to see a Democrat who doesn’t want to curtail legal gun ownership altogether. 

Governor Bryan says the current restrictive regime only serves to criminalize many young Virgin Islanders seeking to exercise their second amendment rights. He told a story about a man with no previous criminal record, who was jailed for 15 years without parole after pleading guilty to gun and ammunition charges. “They told him he’d probably get three years for the possession…where is the justice in that?” Governor Bryan asked. “We setting up our young people to fail.”

Fifteen years for the “crime” of keeping arms without a government-issued permission slip is truly outrageous, and I’m glad to see that Bryan views that as an injustice. 

Bryan seems to get that gun control isn’t crime control, and that’s a good start. I hope that as he continues to speak out against the current gun control regime, he’ll realize that the licensing and registration requirements he still supports can be just as abusive to our Second Amendment rights as the draconian policies that are currently in place.