SSP Diaries | The gun crisis

Like most problems, this one didn’t start overnight. We saw it coming and chose to do nothing in the hope that it too would go away. Now that it hasn’t, it has become the thorn in the sides of many a politician and the political football of the 21st century.

Mass shootings dominate the US landscape these days to the extent that they have become the norm rather than the exception. Having noted the societal degradation in that country for some time, one is left to wonder if and when they’ll ever come to their senses. People are suffering daily as a result of increasingly escalating and senseless killings, yet the politicians effectively bar meaningful ways in which the matter can be addressed by relying heavily on the right to bear arms as stated in their Constitution.

There is a convenient refusal to admit that the Constitution could never have contemplated the state of affairs that currently exists. The right to bear arms addressed a clear and present danger at the time of its inception, a time when the land was a lawless one, a time when there was a perceived need to conquer and subjugate the indigenous people to the white man’s desires, a time before the advent of state-wide or federal policing systems, an uncivilised time.

It was conceivably the most prudent way to have people protect themselves in the hostile environment that existed while America went through the stages of the Wild, Wild West, colonisation, slavery and the wars that led to unification.

The ‘right to bear arms’ may have been necessary then but in my opinion, it has no justifiable relevance now, in its present interpretation. It is clearly at the root of the mass shooting phenomenon the country is grappling with, yet its political leadership cannot arrive at a solution to address the problem. Republicans are bent on retaining the status quo, Democrats are all about change. The voting public have become pawns in a political struggle. In this self-imposed tragedy, the financial support from the weapons industry for politicians, triumphs the right to the preservation of life. It is the new health pandemic, self-gratification with power versus sanity.

The same mentality being displayed by those in authority in the US, impacts the Caribbean daily in the form of the illegal arms and ammunition trades and attendant issues. As long as there is money to be made, there is no concern for the havoc wreaked upon developing nations. Looking ahead of the present situation, one needs to contemplate the impact the end of the Ukraine war is likely to have upon the world generally and developing states, particularly. The latter will not have the ways and means of protecting themselves from the onslaught of illegal weapons that will flow from that war zone and be readily available on the black market. Accountability is always difficult in conflict.

Constitutions, in my mind, are instruments of good governance, relevant to the time. If they lose relevance then they should be properly amended to be able to do what they are intended to do. They should not become political footballs for the sake of retaining power, to the detriment of people’s lives. This to me is a dereliction of duty on the part of a country’s leadership and is not only an act of incompetence and negligence, but also a highly corrupt one. To know that the gun industry and product sales lack proper regulations and that this is the cause of much grief beyond ones shores, continues to demonstrate the lack of care or concern that the US and other weapon-producing countries have for states other than theirs. Money, the root of all evil, triumphs over everything, even life.

Where gun laws need to be changed to become more effective and relevant, then this should be done. This is prudent governance in the interest of a people, whether in the US or elsewhere. Constitutions are not things set in stone, they can be changed when necessary but their purpose should be respected and not be trivialised.

We in the Caribbean have got to prepare ourselves for the worst, illegal arms trafficking is going to increase under the present circumstances. We have not yet learnt that there is more power in numbers and collective approaches as opposed to individually petitioning the US, for example, to do more in helping us save our lives. Whether we are living in the US or in the Caribbean, the real question in my mind is, when are we going to be prepared to say that we have had enough? Are people merely prepared to sit back, tolerate and accept what is happening in their societies?

The people of Sri Lanka spoke recently and backed up their words with peaceful protests. They demonstrated a high degree of frustration and resolve to get their wrongs addressed and hopefully they will. There is no need to go to that extent if governments will listen. There is much to be done but let the start be made with effective collective efforts in addressing the source from which these instruments of death are derived.

Combine that effort with the understanding that political disunity means there can be no continuity over time. Have therefore the will to make the harsh decisions at home that are necessary to create deterrence. Yes, there are the social interventions that must be in place, but our lawmakers must understand that in the Caribbean, our gunmen no longer fear going to jail, they fear losing contact with the outside world and never being able to return to it, therein lies a powerful deterrent.

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