Guns! Guns! Everywhere!

[Mosiah]

Observer Editorial

Guns! Guns! Everywhere!


Thursday, April 19, 2007


Without venturing an opinion about the motive behind the police operation in West Kingston Tuesday, or about who fired first - police or gunmen - we are at a loss to understand how so many guns came to be in the hands of the shooters who engaged the law enforcers.
Police reported they were pinned down for about an hour by gunfire from about 15 men with AK47 rifles. During the alleged late-morning gunbattle in Denham Town, one 9mm pistol and an AK47 rifle were seized, according to the police.
Hours after that gunbattle, gunmen shot dead two men and injured another two in 'Angola' in the volatile Arnett Gardens section of South St Andrew, we are told. Residents complained that a gang of gunmen armed with AK47 rifles kicked down doors to more than a dozen houses and fired their weapons wildly.
Incredibly, at least 40 AK47 spent shells were reportedly found at the scene.
But as if all that was not bad enough, police said the gunmen in the case of Denham Town were preparing for an offensive against the security forces to commemorate the anniversary of the fatal shooting of influential Tivoli Gardens resident, 42-year-old Donovan 'Zion Train' Griffiths.
The trouble in Denham Town, according to the police, started when members of a joint police/military patrol entered premises in Denham Town where a group of men had gathered and one man allegedly opened fire on them.
"We returned the fire and all of a sudden all hell broke loose," Special Sergeant Steven Watson was quoted as telling the Observer.
Moreover, lawmen also theorised that the armed men in the Arnett incident had struck after members of the security forces left the community to help restore order in Denham Town.
Anyone who believes that this is a tale about a frontier town in the American Wild West could be easily forgiven. Surely this could not be a town in a country with an established police force, where law and order is supposed to be a hallmark of democracy.
The big question, naturally, is where did all those guns and ammunition come from? AK47s do not come cheap. One price quoted to us is $300,000 per rifle!
Of course, nobody would pretend not to know that guns are in Western Kingston and South St Andrew. The sporadic outbreaks of gun violence over many years are testimony to this.
And of course, we have heard of the drugs for guns trade, latterly involving neighbouring French-speaking Haiti.
But we had thought - even if it now seems to be well-wishing - that the security forces, particularly Operation Kingfish, had been making a dent in the number of guns on the streets, especially after the 20 per cent drop in murders last year.
The Denham Town/Arnett Gardens gunbattles are a further wake-up call.
We would like to suggest that Members of Parliament, Mr Bruce Golding and Dr Omar Davies have a job to do. They preside over the two constituencies involved. Are we to believe that they have nary a clue about the presence of so many guns on their political turf? Excuse us if we refuse to believe that.
In the case of Mr Golding, speculating about whether the police operation had anything to do with coming elections is not enough.
The country expects far more.

(Couldn't agree more!)

[Lazie]

Guns in all these communities, why unuh fail fi see that these attacks occur close to an election? The invasion last year was the only exception that I can think of ... or is it really the exception?

Guns in all these communities, but killing off the citizens that live in Tivoli will solve the problem? Talk bout creatures of the night. Unuh all have mouth fi support an attack on Tivoli, but quiet when sh it happen in other communities. Then unuh claim unuh fair?

[Muadib]

Observer Editorial

Guns! Guns! Everywhere!


Thursday, April 19, 2007


Without venturing an opinion about the motive behind the police operation in West Kingston Tuesday, or about who fired first - police or gunmen - we are at a loss to understand how so many guns came to be in the hands of the shooters who engaged the law enforcers.
Police reported they were pinned down for about an hour by gunfire from about 15 men with AK47 rifles. During the alleged late-morning gunbattle in Denham Town, one 9mm pistol and an AK47 rifle were seized, according to the police.
Hours after that gunbattle, gunmen shot dead two men and injured another two in 'Angola' in the volatile Arnett Gardens section of South St Andrew, we are told. Residents complained that a gang of gunmen armed with AK47 rifles kicked down doors to more than a dozen houses and fired their weapons wildly.
Incredibly, at least 40 AK47 spent shells were reportedly found at the scene.
But as if all that was not bad enough, police said the gunmen in the case of Denham Town were preparing for an offensive against the security forces to commemorate the anniversary of the fatal shooting of influential Tivoli Gardens resident, 42-year-old Donovan 'Zion Train' Griffiths.
The trouble in Denham Town, according to the police, started when members of a joint police/military patrol entered premises in Denham Town where a group of men had gathered and one man allegedly opened fire on them.
"We returned the fire and all of a sudden all hell broke loose," Special Sergeant Steven Watson was quoted as telling the Observer.
Moreover, lawmen also theorised that the armed men in the Arnett incident had struck after members of the security forces left the community to help restore order in Denham Town.
Anyone who believes that this is a tale about a frontier town in the American Wild West could be easily forgiven. Surely this could not be a town in a country with an established police force, where law and order is supposed to be a hallmark of democracy.
The big question, naturally, is where did all those guns and ammunition come from? AK47s do not come cheap. One price quoted to us is $300,000 per rifle!
Of course, nobody would pretend not to know that guns are in Western Kingston and South St Andrew. The sporadic outbreaks of gun violence over many years are testimony to this.
And of course, we have heard of the drugs for guns trade, latterly involving neighbouring French-speaking Haiti.
But we had thought - even if it now seems to be well-wishing - that the security forces, particularly Operation Kingfish, had been making a dent in the number of guns on the streets, especially after the 20 per cent drop in murders last year.
The Denham Town/Arnett Gardens gunbattles are a further wake-up call.
We would like to suggest that Members of Parliament, Mr Bruce Golding and Dr Omar Davies have a job to do. They preside over the two constituencies involved. Are we to believe that they have nary a clue about the presence of so many guns on their political turf? Excuse us if we refuse to believe that.
In the case of Mr Golding, speculating about whether the police operation had anything to do with coming elections is not enough.
The country expects far more.

(Couldn't agree more!)

I thought I read somewhere of Golding calling for dismantling of Garrisons.. how is that progressing ? What was the response from the PNP ?

Why we still have Garrisons after 18 years:


"There are several studies that provide irrefutable evidence that a suppressed and disadvantaged people usually exhibit antisocial and reckless behaviour as a result of decades of built-up anger, hate, hopelessness and depravity. According to the highly respected Harvard Professor, Dr. Julius Wilson (1996), “high levels of serious crime is strongly associated with the high proportion of the population that does not (or is unable to) participate meaningfully in the society, and which consequently shares a disproportionately tiny fraction of the nation's wealth”. He further asserts that mass social and economic disfranchisement is the major source of much serious crime - from formation of warring urban gangs, to acts of wanton violence.” Miserable social and economic conditions make for miserable family life and, consequently, for neglectful parenting, which is the closest link to crime and delinquency in a sequence of other factors. These are the daily realities of garrison constituencies in Jamaica.

Since the PNP wont give away its advantage, albeit an unfair and counter-productive one, and the JLP will be devoid of viable options outside of state power, a meaningful change in the garrison phenomena may be with us for a while longer. However, the obvious questions should be: What will the JLP do to guarantee a fair playing field for future elections? How will they eliminate this disadvantage and ensure fair play? Will the JLP deliberately perpetuate the further “garrison-ization” of constituencies with a view to at least match the PNP’s six? Or will the party, with the support of the rest of the society, pressure the Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) and the government to dismantle the current garrison constituencies on both sides? Will the JLP agitate for constitutional changes to reduce the cap on the number of electorates per constituency with a view to increase the number of constituencies? And importantly, how will the party induce and mobilize the uncommitted voters to support the JLP and hence nullify the impact of the garrison deficit that could provide enough swing to oust the PNP government?"

It look rough Mosiah.. look like seh only chance you might have to see dismantling is if JLP win.. yuh enumerated ?