In the mid-1970s when Jamaica was number 10 on the list of the most murderous countries in the world, it used to be said of persons who were shot dead by gunmen that they 'were at the wrong place at the wrong time'. Then the 'terrorist gunman' with his high-powered rifle was introduced by the politics of the times and just as 1980 was ushered in, it seemed that all hell had broken loose.

In the election campaign of that year there were certain areas like Olympic Gardens and most of the Kingston West Police Division (Arnett Gardens, Matthews Lane, Fletchers Land, Denham Town, Jones Town, Tivoli Gardens) that were off limits to all sensible people. If you were in any political garrison that you did not belong to after 6:00 pm or were travelling across political boundaries, your chances of being shot dead were increased significantly. If you lived in any of those areas, you would be fodder for the political marauders as they carried out their murderous raids in the hours before daybreak. When they came, men, women, children and the dogs were all fair targets.

In the late 1990s, Jamaica did not make it on the top 10 list. Then in 2003 when our murder rate more than tripled the rate of the early 1970s, we made it to number three on the list. By 2005 we were standing atop the sordid pile at number one. All of the nasty and sick politics which had been practiced since independence to 2005 had caught up with us.

By that time many who could leave had done so. While most who left in the times prior to the 1960s and on the cusp of Independence did so because Jamaica was seen as having nothing to offer them economically, many of those who travelled to foreign shores in the 1970s and after named security concerns as one of the main reasons for leaving their homeland.

In 2008 those personal and national security concerns are very much a part of our daily diet. We live, sleep and eat the fear that if the high prices don't get us, the gunman will. In the inner-city communities, every other man, woman and youngster carries a concealed knife as they leave home.

Unlike the 1970s, in 2008 every parish and district and community and road and lane is likely to be 'the wrong place at the wrong time'. So far have we travelled to arrive at a worse place.

GUN POSSESSION ONLY FOR THE RICH AND CRIMINAL

At present only business persons who have applied for and met the stringent requirements are in possession of legally held firearms. Elected politicians travel with security details while we who supported them and voted for them in the hope of us building a better and safer Jamaica are forced to face the criminal gunman empty-handed.

As the police force signals (by its action over time) that it has no answers to protecting the poor and those most vulnerable, the justice system creaks and only delivers if one has 10 years to spare. The criminal gunman knows that no witnesses will come forward, so he has about a 90% chance of making it to the next killing. In this scenario the state has failed to protect us, continues to fail us and when our elected officials speak, it is mainly to sell us another fairy tale about our safety.

I say to the state, give us guns to protect ourselves because the mechanisms which exist to do so are patently not working.

In April 2002 at the sixth annual Gravitas Conference held in Vancouver, one Professor Gary A Mauser had this to say about gun laws:

"Gun laws have played an important role in reducing crime rates in the US. Since 1986 more than 25 states have passed new laws encouraging responsible citizens to carry concealed handguns. As a result, the number of armed Americans in malls and in their cars has grown to almost three million men and women. As surprising as it is to the media, these new laws have caused violent crime rates to drop, including homicide rates."

In his scholarly book, More guns, Less Crime, Professor John Lott shows how violent crime has fallen faster in those states that have introduced "concealed carry' laws than in the rest of the U.S. His study is the most comprehensive analysis of American crime data ever compiled. He shows that criminals are rational enough to fear being shot by armed civilians.

Many people like myself who have slowly come around to supporting a more liberal position with legally held guns have always cited as a problem the rank indiscipline in our society as a big bugbear.

Then again, it is one thing to issue a gun licence to a householder in Havendale, but how do we treat fairly the householder in Rema who wants to hold a legally acquired firearm?

The state must admit its failure

We need truth to begin at the top. The present JLP government came in at a time when the world was in an economic spin and unlike in 1973 when Michael Manley imposed a bauxite levy on our major extractors of the ore in answer to OPEC's decision to steeply increase the price of oil, the government of today has no economically sound response.

The government may believe that it doesn't need another crisis on its hands, what with major fallout in the alternative investment schemes, sharp increases in the price of basic food items, constantly rising price of crude oil and a murder rate moving into the stratosphere. It may tend to believe that collectively, its team doesn't have the mental faculty to even consider a review of the current gun laws.

But if the government is refusing to face the truth that its policies are failing to protect us from the murderers among us, is it prepared to accept that it is morphing into an administration that is nothing more than an entity rubber-stamping anarchy?

It has been the cliché for some time now, this belief that if violent crime is brought to bearable limits in Jamaica, the economy, the nation will 'take off'. It is a viewpoint which I share.

It would be interesting to hear from Jamaica's expert in these matters, Dr Anthony Harriott of the UWI. Reams of research are available to the government, and at this time it cannot continue in the belief that we are a nation of children who need to be led and spoon-fed by empty pronouncements from political podiums.

The JLP government must examine the research and report to us. And it cannot afford to tell us the same, tiresome, canned crap. The police cannot protect us, our neighbours cannot protect us, the church cannot protect us, and the government sure as hell is not making us feel any safer.

The constitution of this country speaks of our rights but not to the same degree as say, the constitution of the United States enshrines the rights of its citizens as a convergence towards the ultimate state of happiness as centrally stated in its Declaration of Independence.

It could be that successive political administrations in this country never wanted us, the robotic voters, to be happy. So our politicians retire to the safety of their well protected bedrooms every night in well protected, gated apartment complexes with security on tap as we are left naked and fearful that another set of marauding gunmen will be coming for us tonight.

PNP in more trouble

It was only made known to me last week that all PNP MPs give 10% of their net salary to the party. To facilitate this, the cheques are sent to party office, lodged in a PNP account and 90% is paid over to the MPs.

As already reported in the media, a mole of sorts has been discovered at PNP headquarters. As I understand it, the person in charge of this arrangement has been 'digging underground' and in the process she has made off with about $1.2 million.

The matter was only discovered after the lady went on leave and a deputy general secretary came upon the irregularities. It is also my understanding that Peter Bunting, the PNP general secretary (with a banking background) wanted to move for dismissal of the woman in question. In the end, a 'bigger head,' not the party chairman, decided on suspension for that serious matter.

Months ago, PNP party workers at the secretariat were not being paid. At present they are being paid half salary, and I understand that the decision to only suspend the lady involved has not gone down too well with these workers who have sacrificed much.

It is also my understanding that the government's office for Leader of the Opposition will soon be ready. I wonder if Portia Simpson Miller will be taking the lady who is in charge of the group's office with her.

Well, it is her call, especially if it is determined that the person is a fit and proper person to work alongside an opposition leader.

Can the Olint web be untangled?

All of last week I have been trying to weave my way through answering e-mails about Olint and I even received a call from a Jamaican in Australia making enquiries.

As one of the persons in the media who went out on a limb in support of David Smith's efforts in foreign exchange trading, I had no problems in telling readers through my columns that foreign exchange trading was not just a legitimate activity but that Smith was among the best in the world.

I still believe this.

In trying to glean information this time around, I was confined to listening to programmes like Nationwide, as my usual links were apparently huddled in meetings trying to unravel the bits and pieces of information coming out.

First, it is my information that a high-powered team of lawyers have gone off to the Turks and Caicos to meet with Smith. But Olint needs at least one lawyer with knowledge of the American system, because it appears to me that those who had pretended to have Olint's interest at heart may have pulled the wool over David Smith's eyes.

Olint needs to come straight and do some straight talking to the many people who have invested their lives in his foreign exchange trading outfit. Investors need more than specious information about him sending an e-mail to his wife.

Why would I send an e-mail to my wife when I can speak to her in my house?

David Smith is an excellent technician, but those close to him were always advising him to employ a high-powered financial manager to run it as a business, as it had long moved away from being just a 'club'.

I am anxiously awaiting word from those who would normally be only too pleased to inform me of ongoing situations in regards to Olint. The fact is, I cannot write on what I do not know especially when this is contrasted with the ease with which I would usually get needed information.

There are people close to me with sizeable sums in Olint. My interest in seeking information is therefore two-fold.

I am expecting that those who I cannot make contact with will make contact with me in time for my next column.

observemark@gmail.com

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Death to the Mullet!