Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness will meet the Police chief to plot ways of ridding Bermuda of guns following an armed bank heist when two shots were fired.

The move comes amid increasing concern for public and Police safety -- although officers have ruled out carrying guns -- and a perception that armed crime is on the increase.

Last night Mr. Edness said: "I am in discussions with Mr. Coxall about our concern with what is a perceived or real proliferation of guns in this Country.

"We want to discuss how we can stop guns coming onto this Island and getting into the wrong hands, and how we can get rid of the guns already on the Island.'' The meeting was scheduled following an armed robbery on the Bank of Bermuda's Somerset branch on Wednesday when two shots were fired and more than $50,000 in cash stolen.

Police were last night quizzing four men in connection with the robbery.

No names were being released yesterday, but The Royal Gazette understands that those being questioned are Rupert Elroy Archibald, Vincent Sean Dill, Yusef DeSilva and Michael Eugene Dillas.

Two of those being questioned are aged 27, one is 31-years-old and another is 35 and they come from Sandys, Pembroke and Warwick. No-one has been charged in connection with the robbery.

Last year there were 13 incidents involving a firearm -- up from ten the previous year although Police say two people were responsible for the majority of offences.

It is not known how many crimes involving a gun or other type of weapon have been recorded by Police so far this year.

However Mr. Edness added: "I don't know yet what the answer is, but there is a perception that the number of guns on this Island is increasing and we are concerned about that.

"We have made arrangements to have discussions on this subject because it concerns us as I am sure it does every member of this community.

"I don't know if the answer lies with new legislation as we already have a strong deterrent for possession of a gun.

"What we must do is find ways of preventing these guns from coming into the Island,'' added the Minister.

Shadow Minister Alex Scott agreed that ways should be investigated to rid Bermuda of firearms and although amnesties in the past have had mixed results he said even if just a few were handed in it could be worth repeating.

He added: "We could also make the penalties severe enough so that the trafficking in arms is discouraged, but we need to devote greater energy to finding ways of detecting and deterring.'' Yesterday acting Supt. Norrell Hull and Chf. Insp. Carlton Adams, the officers in charge of the Somerset robbery investigation, said two guns found following the raid were being examined to discover their origin.

Chf. Insp. Adams said: "We are not able to give the origin of the weapons, but in general firearms are smuggled into Bermuda in large aircraft or boats.

We will be doing a trace to discover where the weapons came from.'' However he said the weapons were similar to Israeli type Luger handguns.

Both officers commended the public for their help following the raid and both said Police were concerned about the use of firearms.

Edness, Coxall to have meeting Acting Supt. Hull said: "Police are very concerned about the safety of the public and the use of firearms and the disregard of public safety as evidenced by the armed robbery.

"We would like to commend members of the public who helped the Police. A lot of calls came into the Police from the moment the incident happened.'' Armed Emergency Response Team Police as well as unarmed officers wearing bullet proof vests were involved in the robbery investigation on Wednesday.

However last night Police Association secretary P.c. Nick Pedro said officers were not in favour of being permanently armed.

He also praised his colleagues' bravery during the investigation saying they were "almost fearless in their response''.

"For the last 18 months we have had bullet proof vests in all patrol cars and we have other systems in place to deal with lower threat situations.

"We have also been recently issued with the new ASP baton as well as new handcuffs which are helping us a lot,'' said P.c. Pedro.

"It was apparent on Wednesday that the majority of officers were wearing safety equipment, but we do not encounter firearms on a day-to-day basis and Wednesday was an isolated incident.

"We are not pushing for firearms for the Police, we are happy with the level of protection.'' He added: "Knowing that firearms were used in the commission of this crime the officers were almost fearless and their response bears testimony to their courage.''