THE EDITOR, Sir:
ONCE IN a while the world over the people get a government that is in tune with their aspirations and their needs. After forty years of independence this island of Jamaica is still waiting for such a government.
Now some of these tunnel-vision politicians are advising that the thing to do is, arm the people, the more guns the better. They compare us with America and some European countries that have a much better educated population, full employment, better trained and much better equipped police forces.
We have to face the fact that we are a violent nation! Check the ER of any hospital or even the local clinic or better still look at the record of our police who draw guns at the slightest confrontation and fire in many cases.
Don't these politicians know that the police are a product of the population? And that given guns this same population will act accordingly so-called 'law-abiding' or not?
Don't these politicians know that the largest percentage of our people whose doors have been kicked off and who have been shot to death could not even afford the price of a bullet, and how will having a gun help when four or five gunmen drive up unexpectedly and open fire? Or is the thinking behind this folly that these people don't matter or are not law-abiding enough?
Where will it end? Will we have to send our children out to the shops or even school with a .357 Magnum in a scandal bag seeing that children are now being targeted?
Mr. Editor, in Jamaica, more guns simply means more killings.
I am, etc.,
P. FOSTER
Southfield
St. Elizabeth.
