CARICOM has agreed to write to US President Joe Biden, calling for assistance in the region’s fight against illegal guns.

At the final day of the crime symposium on Tuesday, regional leaders noted that weapons manufactured in the United States play a significant role in the proliferation of crime in the Caribbean.

“The islands in the Caribbean cannot sustain the death rate and the economic destruction that this wanton use of arms and ammunition is raking on us. Today, we are saying to the United States, the same way we fought with you to prevent the powder from going up north to poison your community, we want you to fight with us to prevent the guns and ammunition from coming into our territories,” Prime Minister Dr, Keith Rowley said.

CARICOM heads will also ban the use of assault weapons in the civilian population.

“We are saying that we do not require those weapons within our society in a commonplace way because of the outcome of the presence in the society. We can continue to provide protection with small number of handguns in the population,” Dr. Rowley said.