Gareth Manning, Gleaner WriterA PROPOSAL to expeditiously grant gun licences to members of the public has received a contrasting mixture of criticism from rights and security experts. Recently, Opposition Senator, Prudence Kidd-Deans, argued that arming citizens would deter criminals from pouncing on the ordinary person.
"I recommend ... that every level of bureaucracy be removed to facilitate the application of every decent law-abiding citizen who has applied, and who fits the criteria for a firearm licence, be granted one unhesitatingly and expeditiously that such a person can become a front-line soldier in his or her own defence," Kidd-Deans told the Senate a week ago. while contributing to the State-of-the Nation debate.
SYSTEM IS CORRUPT
Reacting to the proposal,
former Commissioner of Police, Colonel Trevor McMillan, says arming the public will allow citizens to protect themselves when a resource-starved security force cannot. But he says the system is corrupt and needs to be dealt with, pointing to cases where law-abiding citizens have applied for licences but have not received one, while criminals have been receiving guns through illegal means.
"There is nothing wrong with the (gun licensing) system if it is properly used, and there is no reason why good-intentioned
citizens shouldn't get a firearms licence if they wanted it," Colonel McMillan states.
He rejects the argument that gun owners are targeted for their weapons, adding that only those owners who boast about owning a gun are targeted. Delroy Chuck, Shadow Minister of Justice, who first took the
proposal to Parliament, supports Colonel McMillan's view.
MEET CRIMINALS FIRE-FOR-FIRE
"If criminals were aware that they would be met with fire for fire then they would think twice about invading a business place or a home," he opines. He adds that it is "disingenuous" for
people to believe that an armed
society would use guns irresponsibly to settle disputes.
Although he supports the idea of arming the public, Mr. Chuck opposes lobbying to have the right to bear arms included in the Charter of Rights Bill that is to replace chapter three of the Constitution. The right to bear arms is entrenched in the United States Constitution as well as that of Sweden and some other
First World countries where the murder rate per capita is significantly lower than in Jamaica. Chuck says this right is not necessary as citizens must first satisfy certain criteria before they can be granted a license.
While not personally supporting Kidd-Deans' proposal, Political Ombudsman and head of the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) Bishop Herro Blair, says he feels every Jamaican should have the right to bear arms.
"It may not be the desire of the state, but if it is a right for a politician to bear arms or a businessman because he is a businessman then it is a right for anyone who is fit and proper, because that person has the responsibility to protect life, liberty and property," he says.
Living in peace Bishop Blair however, says people should learn to live in peace and solve dispute in more amicable ways. However, criticisms from at least one human rights group and a university lecturer were not as mild. Nancy Anderson of the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights says no one, excepting the security forces, should have guns.
"That is not the solution to crime," she argues. Anderson says arming the public means there would be more murder because people carry guns with the intent of using them. She suggests even if licenses are to be given with more ease, the process needs to be stricter and should even include psychological screening before the license is issued.
Expressing similar sentiments, university lecturer and member of the PMI, Horace Levy, says introducing guns will worsen the country's violent culture. "I think we are moving against a current in the direction of peace and it's peace building that we should be moving in the direction of," says Levy.
Implements used in murder
| WEAPON | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |
| Gun | 1,277 | 1,111 | 688 |
| knife | 247 | 191 | 162 |
| machete | 45 | 76 | 68 |
| ice pick | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| other | 103 | 92 | 56 |
Source: Police statistics
