Guns in Chang’s cross hairs

With the gun being the chief instrument in homicides in Jamaica, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang says the Government intends to update legislation governing the circulation and use of firearms before year end.

The announcement comes as the country passes the grisly 1,000-murder mark for the year.

Debating the renewal of four zones of special operations (ZOSOs) in Parliament yesterday, Chang also divulged that a joint select committee of Parliament will be established shortly to review the law that has been in operation for three years.

ZOSOs were introduced to tackle crime and a litany of social problems bedevilling volatile communities.

Extensions were granted to ZOSOs in Mount Salem, St James; Denham Town and Greenwich Town in Kingston; and August Town in St Andrew.

Piloting the motions for the continuation of the ZOSOs, Chang said that the gun has been the chief weapon of death in Jamaica for nearly 40 years.

“We have been very tardy in doing the things that are required to fight crime and providing the police with the tools that are required, legislatively and physically, and in terms of numbers and training. That process this Government is reversing,” the national security minister said.

In his presentation to the 2018-2019 Budget Debate, Prime Minister Andrew Holness had pledged to amend the Firearms Act to discourage the possession of and/or dealing in illegal weapons and ammunition.

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At the time, Holness said that the proposed law would create several new offences – such as trafficking, dealing and distributing – which would better define the various activities within the illegal firearm trade.

Opposition Spokesman on National Security Fitz Jackson urged the Government yesterday to take steps to implement a raft of proposals to tackle crime set out in the national consensus document on crime that was signed by the prime minister and leader of the opposition as well as business and civil society leaders in August.

He said that while the country has been “preoccupied” with COVID-19, which has taken the lives of at least 146 people and infected more than 7,000 Jamaicans since March, criminals have taken more than 700 lives over the same period.

“That is almost five times the number of persons who have died from COVID-19. So what we are finding is that the country is gripped by fear of COVID and they are gripped by fear of murder and the murder is real,” said Jackson.

Some opposition members of parliament have urged the Government to establish additional ZOSOs in other areas plagued by crime and that are in need of social support. However, Chang indicated that the Government did not have the resources to do so at this time.