Samoan authorities have wrapped up a nationwide gun amnesty with mixed success, as part of tightened security ahead of the arrival of world leaders including King Charles.
Next week Samoa will become the first Pacific Island nation to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
"The safety and security of all world leaders attending CHOGM is critical," said Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa when announcing the two-month gun amnesty period in August.
The announcement also coincided with the shooting death of a 12-year-old child, just one week after the alleged murder of a police officer.
Under the scheme, illegal gun owners were encouraged to surrender their weapons to police in exchange for a groceries voucher worth 100 tala ($55).
"This demonstrates the importance of ensuring that our community, our country and our people live in a safe and secure environment," the prime minister said.
Samoan Police Commissioner Auapaau Logoitino Filipo told the ABC early this month that about 40 weapons and close to 300 unlawful ammunitions had been turned in.
"Most of those weapons are small arms or pistols which are not allowed to be registered," he said.
The amnesty period was subsequently extended to October 12 — but it was still a much shorter time frame and markedly lower numbers of surrendered weapons than previous gun amnesties in Samoa.
A 2015-16 amnesty saw the surrender of 317 firearms and 231 ammunitions while in 2020-21 some 198 firearms and 494 ammunitions were collected.
"No I won't be turning it in," said illegal gun owner John, who spoke to the ABC's Pacific Beat on the condition of anonymity.
"If they take my gun, they might as well take me with it."
He said he was against the initiative because he believed firearms like his unregistered rifle were a necessary tool in rural areas.
"You cannot put down a cow by throwing a rock at it … using a gun is the fastest method for killing animals," he said.
Farming is one of the two legally recognised reasons to own a gun in Samoa — the other being for shooting sports.
Commissioner Filipo said gun ownership in Samoa required being mentally fit with a medical certificate from a doctor, having no criminal record, and having completed training conducted by police.
But John has a criminal record so would not be able to pass police checks required to legally possess his weapons — which he told the ABC also included an AK-47 assault rifle.
Community support for gun amnesty after killing of child, police officer
Police in Samoa say there were 16 reported gun-related incidents in the 18 months to June 30, 2024.
Then in July, the island nation was shocked by the death of Detective Sergeant Peniamina Perite, who was allegedly shot and stabbed by a murder suspect he was trying to arrest.
In August — after the gun amnesty had already begun — a 12-year-old boy was shot to death while he slept, allegedly by his sister's boyfriend.
Both killings involved unregistered guns.
Several people on the streets of the capital Apia told the ABC they supported the drive to remove illegal weapons from their community.
"Our youths nowadays are becoming difficult to handle," said Apia-based mother Pepe Maui'a.
"It is evident in the number of brawls they are involved in and not forgetting the impact of drugs. This is why the initiative by police should be carried out."
Peteru Pelefoti also said he supported the amnesty.
"It is a must to collect all the illegal firearms especially the unlicensed ones that are in our country, because there are different types of guns that are scattered around villages that some of our people don't know are illegal," he said.
"We don't even know how these guns are entering into our shores."
Commissioner Filipo said given Samoa does not manufacture guns, the only way illegal firearms were getting into the country was via smuggling.
Ms Fiame thanked the Australian government for its support of the gun amnesty via the Samoa-Australia police partnership.
Australia established a permanent national gun amnesty in mid-2021, which saw the surrender of almost 18,000 guns and weapons during its first year.
That followed a famous gun amnesty under former prime minister John Howard following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
Australia had 6.52 licensed firearm owners per 100 people in 1997 — a proportion that by 2020 had almost halved to 3.41.
Additional reporting by .
