Letter of the Day | US must do more in illegal gun trade

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I have always asked myself, why is it that for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to have a successful major crime result they have to be assisted by some foreign agencies? I am sure that these people who were operating in the drug trade were mostly known to the Jamaican police; but now, because they were arrested in the United States (US), Jamaica seems to have no choice but to carry out the bidding of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the US, who decides which cases are priorities.

One must ask the question: when will the DEA or the JCF put priority on the illegal gun trade that has been ravaging our country?

When will the Jamaican Government take the illegal gun trade seriously by passing legislation to make it clear that any illegal guns that come into Jamaica that are manufactured in the US and are used to murder or injure any Jamaican, the Jamaican victims of such gun crime will have the right to sue the US gun manufacturers unless the US gun manufacturers implement ways of tracing their firearm sales? This means that at every sales point, the buyers are recorded and the information sent to the manufacturers so that they have a record of where their guns are. In this way, they can alert the US authorities when one of their guns leaves the country without proper documentation.

TIME FOR A BALANCE

Jamaica cannot be fighting to protect US citizens from illegal drugs, but the US is doing nothing to help Jamaica fight those illegal guns that are leaving its shores weekly, heading for Jamaica and other poor countries, where they are being used to commit murder and mayhem. It’s time for a balance, where we help them and they help us, but we cannot be the only one who is willing to help; they must also do their part. Just think how many lives would have been saved in Jamaica if the United States was doing its part to make sure that none of its guns reaches Jamaica illegally?

We must have some backbone and stand up and demand that the US do more on the illegal gun trade. Otherwise, we should stop our cooperation with them on their quest to stop any drug shipment before it reaches their country.

CONCERNED JAMAICAN