Guns available for sale and hire; Gov’t must go after crime bosses
Linton P. Gordon
There is a sense of fear haunting the Jamaican society for some time now. However, since last year with the regular killing of prominent citizens and frequent instances of more than one person being murdered in one incident, fear is becoming more and more widespread.
There was a time when deep rural communities were never exposed to these multiple murders and other vicious crimes. This is not the case any longer as we now have a situation in which persons in deep rural Jamaica are being viciously murdered. Murders are being committed with the use of guns, cutting instruments and by arson. Those committing acts of murder by arson are cold, calculated and vicious persons who will trap or lock persons in buildings then set the building on fire.
BIG FRAID
The perpetrators or these vicious acts of crime are mainly young men under the age of 30. These young men are demanding from society the right to live a life of luxury and comfort without having to work in order to enjoy this life style.
In fact it can be said that Jamaica is now under the spell of “THE BIG FRAID”. Many citizens who witness acts of crime and are able to assist the Police with the apprehension of the persons who committed the crime refuse to give information to the police because they fear that somehow the criminal who they report, will be informed of their report and will come back for them.
The average citizen going about his or her business is constantly under fear throughout the day. They are afraid of walking along the public street because out of the blue someone may grab their bag, their jewellery or their cell-phone while holding a knife or gun at their heads.
STEEL FORTS
Parents are constantly worried and in fear of the safety of their children at school. There are several work places at which the workers are constantly in fear of an invasion of the premises or of persons coming in to hold them up and rob them. Most of our homes have now become steel enclosed forts. Doors are constantly kept locked and the grills are always locked. We remain inside in fear of being attacked, injured, robbed or killed.
Motorists driving along the roads, especially lonely roads, are constantly fearful of being subject to road blocks and being robbed. Even persons attending their places of worship are constantly fearful of attacks from the criminal elements.
There is no doubt that the greatest concern of the majority of us is crime. That being the case the Government should give priority to bringing the Constabulary Force and the Army up to the stage where they have all the resources. That includes human resources and material resources to go after the persons who are committing these crimes and after the “connected” persons who are arranging and facilitating the importation of guns and ammunition.
The weapons being used by the gunmen in Jamaica are not cheap. The prices for these weapons in the underground market would surprise a lot of us. An AK47 is sold for between $500,000.00 and $700,000.00 while an M16 goes for between $400,000.00 and $600,000.00. The AK47 is rated over the M16, perhaps because of its international stature, its international reputation among terrorist and its unique banana shape magazine.
The submachine guns, especially the Uzi and the Tech 9, are sold for between $300,000.00 and $400,000.00. These are deadly weapons as they both can be fired automatically and they can be easily concealed. For example, they can be carried under one’s clothing without being seen.
The 9mm Pistols such as the Browning and the Beretta carry a price in the range of $120,000.00 to $150,000.00. The Glock 9mm which is the “top shelf pistol” in this category is sold for $180,000.00 to $200,000.00. Small revolvers, known in the underworld as (Spinners) such as the .38 are rarely sold. They are usually given to the new initiated who is just starting out on the road of gunman ship. A shot gun is sold for $100,000.00 to $180,000.00.
Ammunition in the underworld is readily available if you have the funds to purchase. The 9mm rounds are going for between $300 and $500 each while a .38 round goes for about $100.
Guns are hired out in the underworld and the consideration for such hireage is either a fixed sum for a fixed period or for a percentage of the “loot earned” by the gunman to whom the gun is hired.
With these challenges facing the country and with such an organized underworld criminal “Kingdom” Jamaicans will continue to be subject to THE BIG FRAID. We need a Government which is brave enough, tough enough and determined enough to take on the criminal underworld and the crime bosses at every level. Smash their enterprise thereby freeing the citizens of this country from the FEAR they are under.
