We have been reliably informed that the Government is considering a gun amnesty. An amnesty would allow criminals in possession of illegal weapons to turn them in, no questions asked, and be paid with tax dollars, upon which they walk away.
It should be understood that people with illegal guns acquire them to commit illegal acts. Using that logic, it is safe to presume that some of those weapons have already been used in violent acts against Jamaicans, and some may even have bodies on them, to borrow a street phrase.
There have been gun amnesties in Jamaica before. They netted quite a few weapons to the best of my recollection, but there are more illegal guns in Jamaica today than when the authorities did those gun buybacks.
Some will argue that regardless of the number of guns turned in, one less gun on the streets is worth it.
I say no unless we can stop the guns coming into the country; buying guns from criminals only serves to make the government and taxpayers customers to the illicit gun runners flooding the country with their deadly contraband.
This will undoubtedly further enrich the gunrunners while they continue to flood the streets and alleyways of our country with dangerous illegal weapons. The government should spend its time writing and passing legislation that removes the ability to return violent criminals onto the streets from the criminal-loving judges. This means truth in sentencing; whatever sentence a violent offender receives is the sentence served unless there are mitigating circumstances involved in the case.
It also means mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, including dangerous assaults with weapons and Murder.
The sentence must fit the crime to the extent that a potential offender is fully aware that no quarters will be given if they commit a violent offense and are convicted.
We cannot continue to have judges insulated from the scourge of violent crime and, worse, involved in corrupt practices releasing convicted murderers back onto the streets with slaps on the wrist.
The government should also be heavily engaged legislatively in redoing the bail act. A person who steals some ackee deserves bail; however, a killer who goes out and murders someone is undeserving of bail.
The Island’s criminal-loving judges have cowardly sheltered under the outdated bail act for too long. At the same time, they do damage by releasing violent murderers on bail, even after they have been arrested on five previous separate murder charges that have not yet gone to trial. In one case, the offender even fled the country and was returned by the United States.
We cannot have a country where unelected bureaucrats claim independence while helping violent criminals destroy life and property.
Gun buy-backs, no questions asked, allow murderers to turn in weapons with bodies on them and receive payment for those weapons. Why are Jamaican authorities so dense? Why would they not understand that the evidentiary value is forever lost to investigators once they pay for those guns?
I say let them keep those weapons and allow the police to pluck them from their hands, dead or alive, their choice.
The Police commissioner claims that he and his team are doing their jobs; it is time that the government and the worthless opposition party do theirs.
Come together to draft and pass less criminal-friendly legislation than the laws on the books. We need a country in which government agents respect human rights; however, the continued claim that ensuring that our security forces have the tools to deal decisively with dangerous murderers is tantamount to violation of human rights is a crock full of shit.
The sitting Prime Minister once held the same views; he is now in leadership, and reality now stares him in the face.
Talking from the side of one’s mouth is different than governing now, isn’t it?.
No to gun amnesty.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.