The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

It is refreshing to see the outrage being expressed by Bahamians about sexual exploitation and domestic violence. It clearly speaks to an evolving civil culture – with perhaps a bit of virtue signaling thrown in, too.

But it is surprising, given the almost daily gun murders that we are witnessing, that similarly widespread outrage is never expressed about an issue that exacerbates almost every other social issue in our country: the easy availability of guns in The Bahamas.

The Bahamas is not alone in having to confront the conditions that create gang activity and domestic violence. As in other places, these are deep rooted issues that require long term solutions focused on socialisation.

But the difference between domestic or gang violence in a society that is flooded with guns is that death is far more frequently the outcome of such violence than in other societies.

The young lady who was recently the victim of a murder-suicide at the hands of a domestic partner (and many others like her) could very easily be alive today in a society where guns are not as cheap and easily available as in ours.

Yet public discussion is strangely mute on a matter that can be so easily traced to a bad decision (by Hubert Ingraham’s government) and one that can so easily be fixed.

We have always had too much crime. But the astonishingly light sentencing practices that followed that irresponsible act by the Ingraham government are clearly an immediate cause of the murder spike seen today. The removal of existing minimum sentencing in an atmosphere of already high gun violence was simply beyond rational comprehension.

Further, that such a decision could have been taken without any kind of public consultation (apart from with lawyers and judges – among the people least likely to be affected by gun violence) speaks both to a lack of citizen awareness and to an attitude among certain politicians that is more responsive to professional interest groups than to the general public.

Jamaica recently passed a minimum sentence law of 15 years for mere possession of a firearm. It will work, as it has worked everywhere it has been introduced (though, given Jamaica’s myriad other problems, it remains to be seen to what extent).

Bahamians simply need to realise that no amount of self-reflection or focus on long term issues will make our streets (or are homes) safe in the short or medium term as long as this little island is flooded with guns and the courts continue to treat possession of them as a trivial offence.

ANDREW ALLEN

Nassau,

April 5, 2022.