FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck has credited the seizure of illegal firearms by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) for the decline in the country’s murder rate.

“They are bringing them [guns] in, and that is making a difference,” Chuck said in Trelawny at a sensitisation session for justices of the peace (JPs)

Up to Tuesday, the country recorded a 36.6 reduction in murders over the corresponding period last year.

Minister Chuck noted that firearms have been the weapon of choice in majority of homicides, accounting for roughly 80 per cent of murders annually. However, he revealed data showing a downward trend, both in firearm-related killings and the overall murder rate.

Chuck shared statistics showing a steady decline in gun-related murders between January and April 6 over the past four years.

In 2022, there were 401 murders, with 349 or 87 per cent involving guns between January 1 and April 6. In 2023, 337 murders were recorded, with 282 or 83 per cent committed using firearms. In 2024, 244 of the 298 murders or 81 per cent involved guns during the January 1 to April 6 period. So far in 2025, up to Sunday, 191 murders have been reported, and 147 or 78 per cent of which were gun-related.

“The trend shows a clear decline from 87 per cent in 2022 to 78 per cent so far this year,” the minister pointed out.

“If we can remove these weapons from the hands of criminals, the murder rate could fall below 100 annually,” he added.

Illegal firearms, said the minister, remain the primary driver of violence and urged justices of the peace to support the police in their mission to disarm criminals.

“It is the guns in the communities, in the hands of those who should not have them, that are causing mayhem,” he said.

The sensitisation session for JPs in Trelawny, hosted by the Ministry of Justice at the Royalton Blue Waters Resort, was held Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, speaking on Sunday night at a forum put on by the Norwood Community Development Committee to celebrate zero murders in the area for 2024, Security Minister Dr Horace Chang warned the community members against the danger of guns and implored them not to acquire the deadly weapon.

“You don’t have to buy a gun to kill your brother. The reality is, there’s no fun in the gun! You cannot have a gun for fun! A gun does only do one thing. It kills. Gun is only made to do one [ thing]. Even knife, maybe dangerous, but you use a knife to peel orange, to cook, all kind of things. A gun, once you pull the trigger, that missile only does one thing. If it catches somebody it kills, right,” Dr Chang argued.

“We have to get that across to our colleagues and our young men in Norwood and to everybody across North West St James, there can be no fun in gun,” he stressed.

In the meantime, Chuck, weighing in on the increased fatal police shootings since the start or this year, said it is the police’s responsibility to seize illegal firearms.

“If the police get intelligence that a gun is in a household, the police has a duty to go and get it. Is that clear, because if a gun is anywhere, it’s illegal, if it is legitimate, they can show the police. But once an illegal gun is in a neighbourhood, in a household, the police has a duty to go and collect it because it is criminal offence to have an illegal gun,” he said.

“Now, this year, there has been a plethora of police killings. The question may arise, is it higher than in previous years? But what is clear is that from all indications, the police went for guns,” he added.

It is a matter, he said, for the Independent Commission of Investigation (Indecom) to investigate if the police acted beyond “reasonable grounds”.

“I know if they meet up a gunman or gunmen with guns, not only must the police defend themselves, that’s self-defence. But they have an additional duty to apprehend the gunman and they apprehend the gunman using reasonable force. And the law has been declared repeatedly that reasonable force includes deadly force. It is sad, but if the man only has a toothpick, you don’t expect the police to use deadly force,” said Chuck.