COTTON TREE, Cayo District, Fri. July 14, 2017–Two more persons have run afoul of the severe gun laws of Belize. The men — two farmers of Cotton Tree: David Estrada, 50, and his friend Manuel De Jesus Gonzalez, 55 — have been remanded to the Belize Central Prison until Monday, August 21.

David Estrada was charged with lending a firearm/ammunition without the permission of the Commissioner of Police, and Gonzalez was charged with keeping a firearm/ammunition without a license.

It is against the law for someone to lend another person his/her gun

Police said that while conducting a patrol on the George Price Highway in Cotton Tree, Cayo District, at about 8:30 last night, they found Gonzalez with a shotgun for which he could not produce a license. He told police that the gun was the property of his friend, David Estrada, who was in the bushes.

Police waited for Estrada, and when he came out of the bushes shortly after, they asked him to produce his license, which he did. Unfortunately, the men had already placed themselves between the crosshairs of the gun law.

Police arrested the two men and took them to the Belmopan Police Station, where they were booked. They were taken to the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court today. No pleas were taken from them and they were remanded.

Police remind gun holders that it is against the law to lend their firearm, or to leave it in the care of persons not authorized to be in possession of the firearm without the permission of the Commissioner of Police.