Garth A. Rattray
A couple of weeks ago (once again) several voices called for the turning in or the 'buying back' of illegal guns (a term that I can't fathom since we never sold anyone the illegal guns in the first place). A group of well-meaning churchgoers from the March Pen and Corletts Road communities (St. Catherine) gathered in prayer for peace and unity under the theme, 'One People, One Community Under One God'. They called for gunmen to hand in their weapons to church leaders and other public figures.
I don't doubt that there is power in prayer or the sincerity of those who fervently wish for the gunmen to turn in their weapons in exchange for peace. What I doubt, however, is people's awareness of our deeply rooted social dysfunctions that led to the plague of gun crimes. All the talk in the world won't bring peace, unity or the surrendering of illegal guns.
We never lived up to our (utopian) National Motto, 'Out of Many, One People'. Jamaicans have always lived in several worlds separated by money, class, colour, politics, drugs and gangs. Invisible lines drawn by our new-age tribalism carve gaping divides between neighbours in small, crowded communities. In Kintyre, for instance, deadly violence sometimes erupts between the 'top road' and 'bottom road' (which are separated by an incline). Such communities were once peaceful enclaves united perhaps because of a common history or the similar social circumstance of its inhabitants.
Different 'world'
Many people in underprivileged communities live outside mainstream society. Our rules, regulations and laws are of little relevance in communities where might makes right, jungle justice prevails, basic amenities are scarce and the laws of survival reign supreme. These people feel forgotten, ignored and abandoned by 'civil society' including the police whom they deeply distrust. Guns therefore, represent not only the wherewithal to defend oneself, they also represent income, power and status.
Poverty-stricken youths cannot afford these expensive firearms, they are conditionally 'given' to them by 'Mr. Big' who also pays them a regular salary to keep the guns, hold their corner and watch their backs.
Guns and ammunition that are smuggled in from the United States of America (USA) pass through our commercial ports craftily hidden and/or with assistance from corrupt civil servants. They also enter Jamaica in boats that sometimes trade illegal drugs for weapons. These small vessels ply between our shores and several nearby regions (like the USA, Haiti and South America).
The proper use of guns
Guns carry stipulations for their use. They should be used for territorial defence and to do the bidding of Mr. Big. They are also used on so-called 'jobs' and, since they are loaned or rented out periodically, they are sometimes used to murder and/or rob others (including licensed firearm owners) in order to acquire fresh weapons, so that the gunmen concerned can have guns to call their own.
If the privilege of 'holding' a gun is abused (if the gunman carries out unapproved or errant crime), jungle justice exacts stringent punitive measurers. The transgressor may be severely reprimanded, have a powerful weapon replaced with an inferior one, be completely relieved of the weapon or even killed. Loans or rentals gone bad also attract the death penalty.
So you see, the real guns can never be turned in voluntarily. We must not only find them and take them away; we must also take away the need for the guns (or any other weapons for that matter) by putting in place significant, widespread, sustainable social reforms.
Dr. Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
