Liberalise gun laws
Published: Sunday | December 28, 2008
From left, Kidd-Deans and MacMillan.
Shawn Johnson, Contributor
It is quite alarming the rising murder rate that the country has been experiencing over the last 20 years. Governments over this period have given very little assurance to the population that they know how to tackle the problem. Despite their best intentions and the numerous high-level police units put in place (Operation Ardent, Eradication Squad, ACID - later Special Anti-Crime Task Force and many others), we have not had many successes.
We have moved from 400 murders in 1989 to over 1,600 in 2007 and close to that in 2008. These are staggering numbers. Most of these murders are committed by a few brazen gunmen, who are well-armed and who go about their business killing and maiming law-abiding citizens with impunity. They know that only about 30 per cent of murders are solved and therefore there is no fear that they will be caught. We constantly repeat the same washed-over ideas when there is a spike in murders or when some 'big-named' person is killed.
Different approach
It is time to take a different approach. The National Gun Rights Association, of which I am chairman, is proposing that the Government approach the crime problem as if it were a national crisis and treat it as such. The entire country needs to be mobilised around this cause. We need to recognise that the lawless elements in our society go to any extreme to get their guns (whether from Haiti, in barrels or from Colombia). These guns have made them extremely powerful and have put them in a complete advantageous position over the law-abiding citizens.
The restrictions and bureaucracy put in place by the previous firearm law and now the Firearm Licensing Authority for obtaining a licensed firearm is a slap in the face of law-abiding citizens who have decided to play by the rules.
In taking back our communities we need to arm our citizens who:
This is not a wild-west proposal. We have to be practical and realise that criminals have no fear and it is time to take the fight right back to them. If a criminal decides that he is going into a community and kick in a door, he should face a barrage of community shotguns. If a few gunmen decide that they are going to hold up a bus and they think that the passengers are armed, it is less likely that they will go rob the buses. Similarly, the brazen gunman who went into the middle of Half-Way Tree and killed that hairdresser thought about the risk and easily realised that it was very unlikely that he would have been challenged by hundreds of citizens in the area, who were more likely to be unarmed. He was able to carry out his deadly mission unperturbed. It is time to level the playing field.
On March 24, 2006, former JLP Senator Prudence Kidd-Deans argued in the Senate that all members of the public who qualified for firearm licences, and who wanted and could afford the weapons, should have easier access to them. She also called for the removal of bureaucratic impediments to granting gun licences. The senator as reported as being willing to take a guess that at least 75 per cent of Jamaica's legislators on both side of the political divide were licenced firearm holders, and she noted that those who qualified were provided with security personnel, in contrast with other Jamaicans who 'must abide by the rules of the state and, at the same time tremble with fear at the possibility of the gunman's bullet'.
Bureaucracy should be removed
Mrs Kidd-Deans called for every level of bureaucracy to be removed to facilitate the application of every decent law-abiding Jamaican who has applied, and who fit the criteria for a firearm licence (and that such a person) is granted one unhesitatingly and expeditiously (so) that that a person can become a front-line soldier in his or her defence.
In the said article published in The Observer, Colonel Trevor MacMillan who is now the minister of national security, was questioned about Kidd-Deans' proposal and he strongly supported it by saying, "Placing more guns in the hands of responsible citizens would deter crime." He was reported further, "Think about it, haven't you heard of cases where armed citizens have intervened to stop a robbery or save someone's life? It can work." Macmillan was against a civilian board as the best way to go about the issuing of licences and feared that they might get bogged down in details. He questioned what objective rationale would be used to determine who got a licence.
Bogged down in details
The Firearm License Authority, as predicted by MacMillan, is indeed bogged down in details. We have members of our association who have been refused a licence and told simply that "they have not shown a need for a firearm licence". What are the criteria used? How can someone who has met the essential requirement be given such flimsy reason - in this country with the highest murder rate in the world. It is time to empower our citizens, whether they are from uptown or from downtown, whether they carry around large sums of money or not. If we can't trust our law-abiding citizens then the worst is yet to come. We have to make gunmanship a high-risk job so that it loses its glamour. The gunman must cringe in fear of attacking a citizen and not the other way around.
In the United States, crime is lower in the states that have more liberal gun policies such as Florida, Wyoming, Montana and Texas; on the other hand, the states which have restrictive gun laws, such as Chicago, Washington DC and New York have higher crime rates. In Europe, countries such as Switzerland and Finland are almost crime-free and is attributable to the very liberal gun laws and the training afforded to its law-abiding citizens.
The Government needs to think outside the box and it needs to do so now. We cannot fix our economy if we cannot fix the crime. The citizens will be ready if they are called to action and given the requisite training. It's time to trust our people and let them play their part. It is time for the national security minister and the prime minister to get to the front and centre and lead the people to confront and eradicate the monster of crime.
Shawn Johnson may be contacted at ngraJamaica@yahoo.com.
