The use of illegal firearms in the community is on the rise, according to Police - and Police and Customs are doing everything they can to stem the flow of such firearms into Bermuda.

“We have seen a rise in crimes being committed where firearms are used,” Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Crockwell of the Serious Crime Unit told The Royal Gazette yesterday. However, he added, Police cannot say whether the firearms being used are real weapons or imitations until they actually seize and test them.

“Probably the majority are being committed with imitation firearms - but to a victim at first glance they appear real,” he said. “There's no way the people you are holding up can say it wasn't a real gun.”

For example, he said although every single witness in Thursday night's armed robbery on Curving Avenue in Pembroke has confirmed they saw a firearm, there was no way they could say whether that firearm was a “real gun” or whether it was an air gun or even a toy.

Police are not trained to discern between a real weapon and an imitation firearm, he added. However: “What people are ignorant of is that in Bermuda it doesn't make a (legal) difference whether the gun is real or not.”

If you are caught with a firearm or an imitation firearm, he explained, the onus is on you to satisfy Police why you are carrying it - and if you cannot explain to their satisfaction, he added, you will be prosecuted as though the imitation firearm you carry was a real gun.

If neither victims nor Police can discern between a real gun and an imitation when faced with an attacker, the gun must be treated as though it were the real thing, and the consequences must follow suit.

In the wake of an article in Monday's Royal Gazette on smuggled firearms, Bermuda Customs issued a statement yesterday detailing the training officers undergo enabling them to spot guns being smuggled in to the Island.

“Bermuda's Customs officers are trained to detect guns in luggage and packages and, during the past two years, have intercepted weapons being smuggled into the Island,” the statement said.

Training is provided by the Bermuda Regiment to familiarise Customs officials with guns and their component parts. Trainee officers receive a full day's training, with ten officers currently receiving instruction, and in February of this year 41 officers attended a half-day refresher course.

The guns seized included handguns, paintguns, dismantled parts of guns and flare guns found on passengers arriving from the US or detected by X-ray in courier packages. All weapons were turned over to the Police.

“Our officers are diligent in performing their duties in a professional manner, but it would not be practical for us to stop and search every person coming in to Bermuda,” said Collector of Customs Winifred Fostine-DeSilva.

“We search passengers based on the principles of probability and risk. Extensive training has enabled our officers to identify potential smugglers and to detect items such as guns and drugs concealed in luggage. We have had considerable success with the methods we use even though gun smuggling is not common in Bermuda.”

Five such successes were listed. Among the most recent, in December of 2002 was an incident where Customs reported an attempt to conceal a gun inside a TV along with a quantity of drugs.

Most recently, in February 2003, several items consigned to a local man arrived at the courier facility at the airport and were subjected to X-ray. The man had declared his clothes, but the image of a gun could be seen concealed in the clothes on the X-ray. The gun was seized and handed over to Police.

Also another man is currently being processed in Supreme Court in relation to a firearm.

“We know (from forensic evidence) that firearms have been used in separate incidents,” he said, although he declined to specify what incidents he referring.

The Serious Crime Unit actively investigates any and all intelligence received, he said. “But our overall success depends on the full support and help of the community.”