Dear Editor,
Having read the article 'Senior lawyer thinks murder rate will fall if Jamaicans are armed' published in the Jamaica Observer on Monday, February 9, 2015 where prominent Jamaican lawyer Captain Paul Beswick wants legislation to be passed that will allow ordinary Jamaicans to be able to own and carry guns. I am led to express that I am most bewildered and disappointed.
Beswick seems to be fooling himself. Jamaican culture, in and of itself, is different and is constructed with its own intricacies and uniqueness. What may work elsewhere may not work in Jamaica. What may work in Texas may not work in Jamaica because the culture and mentality of the Jamaican people are different.
However, what jumps out to me most is when he made this statement: "You show me a country that has become safer because of firearm laws; name one." It seems Beswick has not been reading widely, and if he did, he needs to re-check his facts.
Let me take this opportunity to respond to his statement. According to a new United Nations report, "Japan's homicide rate has been steadily decreasing since the 1950s, and now the country has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world". I am sure that Beswick would want to know what has contributed to such a low rate. Let me inform him from the report: "The country's homicide rate is associated with a stable and prosperous society with low inequality and high levels of development. Young Japanese males now commit only a tenth of the homicides committed by their predecessors in 1955, and the age and sex distribution of victims tend to be uniform across age groups. This has been attributed by some researchers to, amongst other factors, extremely low levels of gun ownership (one in 175 households), a greater chance of detection (according to police data, 98 per cent of homicide cases are solved), the rejection of violence after the Second World War, the growth of affluence without the accompanying concentrations of poverty common in many highly developed countries, and the stigma of arrest for any crime in Japanese society."
In the aforementioned report, I am sure we can point out a significant factor "extremely low levels of guns ownership". Therefore, we need to develop a more strategic approach to crime fighting, and not just any strategy, but one which works for Jamaica.
Kenroy Davis
Clark's Town PO
kenroy.davis20@gmail.com
What works elsewhere may not work in Jamaica
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Having read the article 'Senior lawyer thinks murder rate will fall if Jamaicans are armed' published in the Jamaica Observer on Monday, February 9, 2015 where prominent Jamaican lawyer Captain Paul Beswick wants legislation to be passed that will allow ordinary Jamaicans to be able to own and carry guns. I am led to express that I am most bewildered and disappointed.
Beswick seems to be fooling himself. Jamaican culture, in and of itself, is different and is constructed with its own intricacies and uniqueness. What may work elsewhere may not work in Jamaica. What may work in Texas may not work in Jamaica because the culture and mentality of the Jamaican people are different.
However, what jumps out to me most is when he made this statement: "You show me a country that has become safer because of firearm laws; name one." It seems Beswick has not been reading widely, and if he did, he needs to re-check his facts.
Let me take this opportunity to respond to his statement. According to a new United Nations report, "Japan's homicide rate has been steadily decreasing since the 1950s, and now the country has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world". I am sure that Beswick would want to know what has contributed to such a low rate. Let me inform him from the report: "The country's homicide rate is associated with a stable and prosperous society with low inequality and high levels of development. Young Japanese males now commit only a tenth of the homicides committed by their predecessors in 1955, and the age and sex distribution of victims tend to be uniform across age groups. This has been attributed by some researchers to, amongst other factors, extremely low levels of gun ownership (one in 175 households), a greater chance of detection (according to police data, 98 per cent of homicide cases are solved), the rejection of violence after the Second World War, the growth of affluence without the accompanying concentrations of poverty common in many highly developed countries, and the stigma of arrest for any crime in Japanese society."
In the aforementioned report, I am sure we can point out a significant factor "extremely low levels of guns ownership". Therefore, we need to develop a more strategic approach to crime fighting, and not just any strategy, but one which works for Jamaica.
Kenroy Davis
Clark's Town PO
kenroy.davis20@gmail.com
What works elsewhere may not work in Jamaica
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