THE EDITOR, Sir:
I REFER to your editorial disagreeing with the suggestion of Senator Kidd-Deans to allow more citizens access to licensed firearms. The horrific murders that have occurred in the past three months make it apparent to all that Jamaica is facing a wave of barbarism which must be addressed.
No longer can citizens trust that improvements in policing techniques and personnel will result in a reduction in such crimes. More urgent and immediate steps are required to enable citizens to protect themselves.
EQUIP COMMUNITIES
The Government does not have the resources to have a policeman on every street corner.
I suggest that we train and equip our communities to police and defend themselves.
The answer may lie in community policing without repeating the mistakes which led to the failure of the Home Guard of the 1970s. It may be that the churches in our communities should be a starting point in this initiative.
SELF-DEFENCE
Additionally, individual citizens must be given the means to protect themselves. Criminals have ready access to guns, machetes and knives, while the law-abiding citizens are left defenceless and at their mercy. Even short of issuing more licensed firearms, laws which restrict access to defensive,
usually non-lethal, weapons such as mace, 'tasers' and batons, ought to be relaxed to permit citizens the means of defending themselves. As you rightly point out, adequate means of self-defence is the basic right of every citizen.
I am, etc.,
AL SEUTORIOUS
1601NW 97th Ave.
Miami, Florida, USA
