There is a popular Jamaican saying that reads: ‘Jackass say the world nuh level.’

There is no perfect human being and there never will be. News that a 15-year-old student was shot dead by his father as he attempted to sneak back into his home in Hellshire Heights, St Catherine last week, hit the target of despair and grief dead centre.

Raheem Shaw, was killed by his own father. A registered firearm owner who awoke to unaccustomed noises and responded with three bullets through a closed door. When the smoke cleared he found that he had snuffed out the life of his own offspring.

READ: ‘I screamed and bawled’ – Raheem Shaw’s death hard pill to swallow for Wolmer’s staff, students

Unimaginable trauma swirls for that family, community, the island of Jamaica and of course those who live in the Diaspora. Young Raheem’s schoolmates were devastated by the news of his tragic demise. He was not cut down by gunmen’s bullets. Nor was he killed during any involvement in nefarious activities. He was just doing what teenager’s do. It is a sad time.

The inglorious incident will now provide ammunition to the detractors of the notion of allowing law-abiding citizens, with no criminal record or history of mental issues, easy access to self-protection in the form of being issued with a licensed firearm.

But as the jackass said, the world is not level.

Should the rest of the law-abiding Jamaican community, who have paid their taxes and made valuable contributions to the good of Jamaican society, be held at ransom to the armed criminals who are in the minority because of the perceived misdeeds or miscalculations of one citizen?

To those who say issuing guns to law-abiding citizens with no history of mental illness is a counterproductive measure, the question must be asked.

How do we as a country explain the issuing of gun licenses to persons of questionable character? To those who have political connections or have the financial fortitude to pay the bribes demanded by those who will sign the dotted line?

But as things run in Jamaica, it’s about who you know or how much money you have that get things working in your favour. How dare any ordinary teacher, nurse or employee in the retail industry apply for the right to protect life and property? If no one knows you or you don’t fork out the cash, your life is worth nothing. Just hope and pray no bullets come flying your way.

Jamaica must now adopt a non-political approach to the tantamount crime fighting task we are faced with and make practical decisions. We must do it for future generations. We must make the necessary training institutions and methods more easily accessible to those of us who want to combat the vermin in our midst and cease and desist from allowing the decades-old practice at state institutions that allow for corruption and nepotism.

As long as someone meets the required mark, they should be allowed to protect their own.

Every living thing has a right to self-preservation. It is not a privilege but a right. If a mosquito pitches on a person’s arm and inserts its blood sucking device, the natural reaction will be to slap at the area in which the tinge of pain is being inflicted. This is self-defense.

Criminals now run rampant in Jamaica. The only advantage these hoodlums have over ordinary citizens is that they are armed and the general citizenry are not. Naked as they describe it in street parlance. No defense.

A man must be given the right to protect his woman and children. A mother must be allowed to defend her offspring. The reports of criminals kicking in doors, opening fire on innocent civilians and torching their homes without being met by resistance and walking away to boast of the exploits and at the next dance to the ramblings of misguided entertainers and disc jockeys are too many.

Many Jamaican nationals live in Florida and a great number of them are armed. The state of Florida does not allow for open carry and stipulates that requisite training is necessary for the ownership of a firearm, especially when being carried in the public space.

Home invasions are rare. Maybe criminals are aware that they will be met with the same deadly force they intend to inflict. Most criminals are bullies who almost always whimper when the suffering and pain they so love to inflict on the weak is re-gifted to them.

Face it Jamaica. We are in desperate times and we need to employ desperate measures. History has taught us that Jamaica’s criminal element only fears force that is more deadly and brutal and the one they inflict. This is why the don culture has flourished.

During my time stomping the pavement on the Jamaica Observer’s crime desk, one thing was certain. Justice was swift and sure when meted out by the don. Despite the heavy influx of guns and ammunition in most garrison communities, no rape, petty crime or whatever was deemed taboo by the powers that reigned was entertained and perpetrators of those crimes were dealt with swiftly and mercilessly.

The people fell in line. They knew justice would be swift and sure.

Sadly justice from the state is never swift nor sure.

What happened to Raheem Shaw was sad and a bitter pill to swallow. The Diaspora mourns for his untimely loss. However, Jamaica should not be so blinded by emotion as to allow for us to go another decade without giving the people the right to self-protection.

Karyl Walker is a veteran journalist who served as the Jamaica Observer’s Crime/Court and Online News Editor. He now resides in Florida, USA.