Cortland
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PITCAIRN Islanders have been ordered to hand their guns to British authorities amid fears a six-week sex trial on the island could lead to violence, officials said today.
Seven Pitcairn Island men face 96 charges over allegations of sexual abuse.
Some of the alleged offenses were committed up to 40 years ago. The trials, which are due to begin on the island on September 23, have caused rising tensions in the tiny island community.
Pitcairn Deputy Governor Matthew Forbes, who is based in the New Zealand capital, Wellington, said the island's governor, British High Commissioner to New Zealand Richard Fell, had ordered residents to surrender their firearms, which they use for hunting and shooting coconuts out of trees.
If people do not hand in their guns, authorities will legislate to suspend all firearm licences on the island and guns would be taken from residents, he said.
Mr Forbes said the island's 47 permanent residents held about 20 weapons.
"It's going to be quite an emotional time for everyone concerned so this is to remove that increased risk, by ordering a hand over of firearms," Mr Forbes said.
Authorities feared that the increased tension could lead to incidents either in relation to the trial, or trigger violence in people's interpersonal relationships, he said.
Herb Ford, head of the California-based Pitcairn Islands Study Centre, told The Associated Press in an e-mail that islanders had been given until September 7 voluntarily to hand in their guns "or have police conduct a house-to-house search for firearms".
He said the British governor's order drew "immediate, stunned reaction from Pitcairners on and off the island."
He quoted one island woman as writing to Mr Fell, saying that "we are being treated as if (we) are a murdering, suicidal bunch of good for nothing sex-crazed cowboys".
Mr Ford said islanders regularly used guns to hunt wild goats for meat, shoot breadfruit and coconuts from tall trees and occasionally to shoot sharks.
Mr Forbes said that during the trials "there are going to be large numbers of people wandering around Pitcairn who are new to the island and there could be accidents".
More than 20 court staff and media are expected on the island for the trials.
Authorities are doubling police numbers on Pitcairn from two to four, to beef up security, he said.
Just 47 people live on the speck of land halfway between New Zealand and Peru. It is 1.6km wide and 3.2km long.
The people of this island have an interesting pedigree. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this gun confiscation ...
The bore may be mildly pitted but no doubt it still poses a grave risk.