The V.I. Police Department’s Firearms Rules and Regulations manual has been put online, where it can be consulted by firearm license holders and others considering obtaining a firearms license, the department reported Thursday.
Police Commissioner Rodney Querrard said the manual, which can be downloaded from the VIPD website at the link below, is undergoing a long-overdue update.
The VIPD manual is employed in conjunction with VI Code Title 23 Chapter 5, which regularly updates laws governing firearm licenses and ownership.
“The current VIPD rules and regulations manual has not been updated since the tenure of Police Commissioner Milton Frett,” Querrard said. Frett was commissioner in 1987.
"We have been working on this for some time. The updated version is being modernized and made more applicable to current times. For example the present manual does not have provisions governing high-powered weapons and high-tech ammunition. However, these items are addressed in the V.I. Code.”
The current VIPD Firearms Rules and Regulations manual contains several instances where the commissioner is allowed to “use his discretion” concerning firearm ownership and possession.
“This makes some of the provisions outlined in our manual very subjective," Querrard said. "With the completion of the updated manual it is anticipated that these provisions will be clearer.”
