Jamaica Takes Aim at Illegal Guns and Those Who Possess Them

As Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government lowers criminal penalties for a host of illegal gun crimes here in Canada, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness is taking a very different tack.

“We must have a movement to disarm Jamaica of illegal guns,” Prime Minister Holness declared last November. “Anyone found with a gun [that is illegal] should start with the death penalty. “That’s how strongly I feel about it…that’s how serious we should treat it,” Holness said.[i]

Jamaica has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the first 15 days of 2022, Jamaica recorded 72 murders and an additional 44 shooting incidents.

An estimated 85 percent of all homicides in Jamaica are committed with an illegal firearm.

Ian Neita, the president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, advocates for a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.[ii]

“I don’t know if it [the existing sentencing guideline] is a deterrent or not, but in manifestation, what we’re seeing now is they [offenders] are ignoring it completely,” Neita said.

On February 10, 2022, Dr Horace Chang, Jamaica’s National Security Minister, introduced the Firearms (Prohibition and Regulations) Act, which adds a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years before being eligible for parole for those convicted of possessing an illegal gun.[iii]

If the Trudeau government took possession of an illegal gun this seriously, we probably wouldn’t see 84 repeat offenders charged with 206 counts of violating an existing Firearm Prohibition Order in January 2022 alone.[iv]

Canada’s prohibition order system is in desperate need of an overhaul, yet our government steadfastly refuses to take action against the criminal use of guns.

 

Sources:

[i] https://stluciatimes.com/jamaica-pm-advocates-death-penalty-for-illegal-guns/

[ii] http://jamaica-star.com/article/news/20220119/minimum-30-years-guns-chamber-commerce-head-wants-stronger-punishment-crimes

[iii] https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20220210/govt-proposes-15-years-prison-parole-illegal-gun-possession

[iv] https://christopherdiarmani.com/firearm-prohibition-order-violators/