jaylar
In 1974, after eight people were shot and killed, in a panic, the Parliament passed the Gun Court Act.
Before 1962, that is, when Jamaica took Independence from Britain, the murder rate was one of the world’s lowest with 3.9 per 100,000 population.
Then, there was the killings of ‘Big Men’ and the Government overreacted. Two laws, the Suppression of Crime Act and the Gun Court Act were passed.
This allowed the police and the military to disarm the public. The belief was that by making it almost impossible for a decent citizen to get a gun and totally prohibiting automatic weapons, crime would go down.
This did NOT HAPPEN. In fact, the obverse occurred.
In 2018 the murder rate of 47 per 100,000 inhabitants placed Jamaica among the most homicidal nations in the world, in the same category as nations such as Lesotho, Venezuela and Honduras.
This can be attributed to the Gun Court Act.
Criminals have no problem getting guns. There’s a thriving drugs for guns trade. Many criminals operate ‘rent a gun’ agencies.
It is very likely that the guy with a ‘one pop’ (a revolver) can break into a house, and do what he pleases, because it is likely that no one in that house has a gun.
Before any nation radically alters its laws, an investigation of the situation in Jamaica should be carefully examined.
Nobody in America is for taking away a person’s right to legally own a firearm to use, if necessary, to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their property. But there are a lot of people in America who KNOW that possession, misuse, and abuse of firearms can be controlled. IT IS NOT AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM!! Good post though. Everybody should always learn valuable lessons from the history of mankind.
We made a lot of mistakes others should be able to avoid.
This is exactly what many of us are saying in the US. Those fighting for gun control should read your post. No law will stop illegal firearms.
What they should do is dispatch a ‘mission’ to investigate what happened since 1974. How the fact is that 99% of the gun crime is from illegal guns.
If it were easier for decent people to get guns, the bad boys would have a short life.
Yes but there are so many more bad guys than good ones. And I agree your situation should be investigated in Jamaica.
If Americans studied what happened in Jamaica when the Gun Court Act was passed; how decent people can not get guns but criminals can, they would understand that making it harder for a citizen to get a gun makes crime easier for the criminal.