KINGSTON, Jamaica— Opposition Senator Damion Crawford says the Government should reach out to the influential Black Caucus in the United States to lobby the American Government on behalf of Jamaica with a view to cutting off the flow of illegal guns into the country.

Crawford said this was an avenue worth pursuing since it is obvious that Jamaica is unable to adequately secure its borders.

He made the recommendation on Friday as the Senate debated and passed the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 with 17 amendments.

In the United Sates, the Congressional Black Caucus is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress.

In defending his recommendation, Crawford asserted that Jamaica’s foreign policy and foreign interaction need to be reviewed.

“I am calling the Black Caucus, in particular in the United States to intervene and pressure…on behalf of countries,” said Crawford.

Pointing out that guns are not manufactured in Jamaica, he suggested that the lobby could be with a view to put rules in place “so we can trace who bought (the guns) and sent them here”.

Crawford pointed out that more than 80 per cent of the murders committed in Jamaica each year are carried out with the use of a gun. He argued that the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States cannot be for Americans only.

“We’re losing thousands of our people to weapons of destruction not bought here, not created here, not made here,” he said.

He suggested that the Black Caucus would be more influential in getting tangible results than any lobby mounted by Prime Minister Andrew Holness could achieve.

Said Crawford: “I’m suggesting that the government works through the persons who are more aligned to us based on certain realities like the Black Caucus, to say to them, let us see what strategies can be used to increase risk to those who are supplying the weapons to our society”.