Editorial | Jamaica’s gun violence crisis

The deadly rampage that swept through Grange Hill, Westmoreland, on Tuesday serves as a grim reminder of the enormous firepower that resides in the hands of local criminals.

For the next few days, Grange Hill will become the focus of national attention similar to areas like Flanker, Brighton, Mt Carmel, August Town and Tivoli, which are forever etched in our minds because they bring back chilling memories of violence and bloodshed that horrified the nation.

The authorities will visit the district and offer words of comfort to the bereaved. Various studies, assessments, analyses and investigations will attempt to piece together the evidence and determine the motive for the killings.

From this newspaper's perspective, it seems like a good time to have a serious discussion about guns. Among the indisputable points to consider is the fact that more than 80 per cent of homicides in Jamaica are committed by guns. Another fact: With more than 35 gun homicides per 100,000, Jamaica stands way above its CARICOM partners as a country afflicted by gun violence.

Available figures indicate that Britain, with a population of 64 million, had 138 gun-related homicides in 2009; Canada, with 32 million, had 173 deaths that year; and Japan, a country of 130 million, had a mere 22 gun homicides. (It created a national scandal in Japan for the toll was considered too high.)

Recall that Jamaica was one of the first countries to establish a Gun Court in 1974, designed to have swift trials and dispense harsh punishment. This was triggered by a rash of killings of prominent Jamaican businessmen and professionals. Prime Minister Michael Manley predicted then: "It will be a long war. No country can win a war against crime overnight, but we shall win. By the time we are finished with them, Jamaican gunmen will be sorry they ever heard of a thing called a gun."

Mr Manley could not have predicted that 43 years later, gun-related murders would have reached unprecedented levels of 1,600-plus, as in 2017, or that the engine-red painted Gun Court would have lost its effectiveness as a deterrent to criminals.

The maddening thing for many Jamaicans is that the security forces are unable to offer clues as to how these criminals are being armed and to explain the ease with which they can get guns and ammunition. From what the police tell us, the drugs-for-guns trade with Haiti is real and alive. We recall that local police met with their Haitian counterparts to try to respond to the scourge. Not much information has been forthcoming on the success or otherwise of that intervention.

Even though some 700 illegal guns were seized last year, the gun-murder rate continues to gallop at a dizzying pace.

We dare not forget that more than 100 guns destined for the streets of Jamaica were intercepted in Miami, Florida, in November last year. Whatever route they take, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to confirm that most of the guns that reach our shores originated in the United States. No one was arrested for that large find, and so far, there has been no light to help shape our understanding of who were the people behind that illegal shipment. The absence of information may conceivably lead persons to come to dark conclusions about the part corruption, collusion and greed played. Things could get worse, too, for, according to the UN Commodity Trade Statistics, the small arms trade in the US is booming.

The staggering financial impact of guns on the health sector and the deep trauma that haunts relatives and communities after these violent incidents are two compelling reasons why the focus should be on finding the guns and ammunition wherever they are hidden.

Major General Antony Anderson, the police commissioner, is correct when he says that not only the persons who pull the trigger should be targeted but those who enable them. We urge the Government to give the commissioner the human and capital resources to get the job done.