Dear Editor,

The National Democratic Movement (NDM) is endorsing the call of former National Security Minister Robert “Bobby” Montague to arm the law-abiding citizens within the society.

The NDM has been making this call for several years, even while Montague was the national security minister. We are, however, very pleased that he has now seen the need for the society to be front-line soldiers in their own defence.

The former minister has highlighted figures that make sense. The NDM’s view is that law-abiding citizens must not be left to the whims and fancies of bureaucrats, whose only purpose it seems, is to consolidate power in themselves and their offices.

The onus must not be left up to the law abiding to prove why he/she should get a licence after applying; instead, the Firearm Licensing Authority should prove why he/she should not, and if no valid reason is put forward the firearm licence must be granted within 45 days.

The NDM is putting forward four criteria that should be used to determine one’s right to possess a licensed firearm:

1) The applicant should not be convicted of a crime or facing a criminal charge.

2) The applicant should be at least 21 years.

3) The applicant should not have any serious mental condition.

4) The applicant must be able to properly handle a firearm.

The NDM is calling on the Government to pay attention to the former minister’s call and take up the matter before the Cabinet for a quick resolution and debate this matter before the Parliament.

The former minister is right in saying that when the society is armed it is less likely that criminals will attack people with the impunity with which they do now. Criminals should be thinking that most citizens are armed and, therefore, will think twice about victimising them.

The NDM is calling on Montague to give the Government a timeline to table this matter before the Parliament, or he should, himself, place a private member’s motion before the Parliament for debate.

National Democratic Movement

ndmjamaica@yahoo.com