SENATOR PRUDENCE Kidd-Deans' proposal to allow for more citizens to get licensed guns as a means of self-defence, is perhaps reflective of the general fears and concerns of the wider population over rising crime and violent attacks. It is however, unwise, and if it were to be implemented would be extremely dangerous in our local setting.
Some people will object to the implied criticism that Jamaicans are inherently violent and therefore more likely to be trigger-happy. The fact is we are not a people generally given to restraint and more guns in the hands of the general populace simply encourage their use in the slightest of confrontations and disputes.
It may well be argued that since the laws allow individuals the right to use as much force as necessary to protect themselves when under attack the right to bear arms is a necessary corollary to the right of self-defence. However, potentially, it would also open the door to more people being targeted for their weapons by criminals.
The pro-gun-ownership lobby in the United States and elsewhere usually argue that persons should have the right to bear their own firearms, subject to reasonable restrictions to prevent possession by unfit persons or restrict types of firearms that are particularly suited to criminal misuse. Therein lies the rub. The concept of who is fit and unfit to bear personal firearms is meaningless in a country like Jamaica where corruption is rife. Indeed, many 'unfit' people have already been issued with firearms licences by 'the competent authorities'. We can hope that new and tighter regulations by the Firearms Licensing Authority of the Ministry of National Security will considerably reduce, if not eliminate the incidence of corruption.
And while we have no empirical data to demonstrate the frequency with which private citizens 'draw' their guns in domestic disputes, the potential for misuse is too great to open the floodgates.
In positing her argument, Mrs. Kidd-Deans 'hazarded a guess' that at least 75 per cent of the parliamentarians either have their personal firearms for self-protection or have been provided with additional security detail. While we support her underlying concern that the rest of the society should be as entitled to a sense of safety and well-being as parliamentarians, the solution we believe, must lie in a better-trained, properly-functioning police force and not in the issuing of firearms to every Jack and Jill who desires to have one.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
