A September 22, 2023, travel alert from the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas warned Americans to check their bags before entering Turks and Caicos, as the penalty for carrying guns or ammo was a “custodial sentence of 12 years.”
The alert began:
Firearms, ammunition, and other weapons are not permitted in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). TCI authorities strictly enforce all firearms related laws. The penalty for traveling to TCI with a firearm, ammunition, or other weapon is a minimum custodial sentence of twelve (12) years.
We wish to remind all travelers that declaring a weapon in your luggage with an airline carrier does not grant permission to bring the weapon into TCI and will result in your arrest.
The Embassy stressed, “We strongly encourage you to carefully check your luggage for stray ammunition or forgotten weapons before departing for TCI. If you bring a firearm or ammunition into TCI, we will not be able to secure your release from custody.”
On April 12, 2024, Oklahoma resident Ryan Watson was arrested when four rounds of hunting ammunition were found in his luggage as he was leaving Turks and Caicos to return to the U.S.
CBS News noted that Watson believes “the ammunition may have been left in his bag after he went to Texas on a hunting trip.”
Watson is currently out on bond, but USA Today reported he cannot leave Turks and Caicos, as he has a court date scheduled on June 7, 2024.
In addition to being unable to leave, he must also “surrender his passport and travel documents to the court and needs to report to police twice a week as his case moves through the system.”
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas issued another travel alert regarding Turks and Caicos.
The alert again stressed, “If you bring a firearm or ammunition into Turks and Caicos Islands, even inadvertently, we will not be able to secure your release from custody. You are subject to TCI laws and must follow local law enforcement procedures.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Beef is his favorite vegetable. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.