NDM backs increasing gun access

The National Democratic Movement (NDM) says it supports the call to make firearm licences more accessible for law-abiding Jamaicans.

The call was made by former national security minister Robert Montague during the debate on the Firearms Act in the House of Representatives last week.

Among other things, he argued that the police are often outgunned, leaving the public defenceless to criminals.

Lamenting the country's murder rate, he asserted that criminals would think twice if more citizens were armed.

READ: Stand Up For Jamaica spurns Montague's call for hanging to resume

“It is time for us to arm the society. Any decent law-abiding citizen with a clean police record, no mental issues or domestic violence conviction, should be able to acquire a gun permit within four to five days of applying… If you are armed, criminals don't mess with you… The police and the army are held at bay for hours sometimes in a shoot-out, yet we are calling on law abiding citizens to join the fight against crime. What must they join with?! Dem two long hand and two stone and a cutlass? And what they must do with those?” Montague asked. 

NDM spokesperson on national security Michael Williams said the party believes that law abiding citizens must not be left to the whims and fancies of bureaucrats whose only purpose it seems is to consolidate power in themselves and their offices.

“The onus must not be left up to the law-abiding to prove why he/she should get a licence after applying. The Firearm Licensing Authority should prove why he/she should not and if no valid reason is put forward the firearm licence must be granted within 45 days,” Williams asserted in a statement today.

“The former minister is right that when the society is armed it is less likely that criminals will attack people with the impunity with which they do so now. Criminals should be thinking that most people are armed and think twice about victimising people,” he added.

The NDM has put forward criteria that it believes should be used to determine one's right to possess a licensed firearm.

The applicant should not be convicted of a crime or facing a criminal charge.

2. The applicant should be at least 21 years.

3. The applicant should not have any serious mental condition

4. The applicant must be able to properly handle a firearm.

Williams said the NDM wants the government to pay attention to the former minister's call and to take the matter before the Cabinet for a quick resolution and to bring this issue before the parliament.

The NDM is calling for Montague to give the government two weeks to table this matter before the Parliament or he should himself, by the end of September, place a private member's motion before the House of Representatives for a debate.

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