An American Samoa senator has suggested a round up of illegal weapons in the territory before local police officers are armed.
Soliai Tuipine says illegal weapons have been used openly during funerals or title bestowal ceremonies and he says the Department of Public Safety should move immediately after the ceremonies to confiscate them.
The territory is set to start arming some officers this year and as part of raising community awareness legislators in the Senate Public Safety Committee were shown photos of weapons collected.
The weapons included an AK47, machine guns, automatic pistols and an Uzi.
The lawmakers say the department should proceed slowly and with caution on the arming programme.
In December the Department of Public Safety took possession of 24 Glock-17 guns for use by a select group of officers.
