State minister urges Jamaicans to back ‘Get the Guns’ campaign
LUCEA, Hanover — State minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Homer Davis is urging Jamaicans to reject claims that money being paid out by the Government for the handing over of illegal firearms will be used to facilitate the purchasing of more illegal weapons.
“Don’t look at the argument that is being pushed on Facebook that a man gives up one M16, him get $500,000 and go buy two Glock [pistols]. Well, those two Glocks might put him in a position where he becomes a [gun] dealer. So, he might get 20 years without parole.
“So I think that what the Government is doing is to say to people, yes, you have the gun, we do a swap. We give you $250,000 or $500,000 and you use that and go start some life. Buy a few goats, buy some chicken and forget the gun because next time we catch you with it, the likelihood is that you are going away for 20 years,” argued Davis.
Davis, who has been mandated to coordinate special projects and major developments in western Jamaica, was addressing stakeholders in Hanover and members of the Hanover Municipal Corporation on Tuesday.
On February 4, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced a new Get the Guns campaign. Under the initiative, people will be rewarded between $250,000 and $500,000 for taking in illegal weapons.
Six days later, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang tabled the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act 2022 in the House of Representatives. The Act provides for harsher penalties for offences connected to the illicit trade, manufacture, stockpiling, possession and use of illegal guns.
Clause 19 of the Bill gives the minister of national security the power to possibly declare a firearms amnesty by order, subject to affirmative resolution.
In defending the position of the Holness Administration, Davis argued that many people will have all manner of things to say about the amnesty which is capable of saving lives.
“People have all different ways of twisting and putting it but, as far as I am concerned, if you can get 10 M16 off the road and with my limited knowledge, you probably have the potential to save 100 lives. So, don’t look at it along that line,” encouraged Davis.
