HomeNewsBriefJamaica Boasts Gun Control Success but Security Challenges Remain
BRIEF

Jamaica Boasts Gun Control Success but Security Challenges Remain

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 16 MAR 2017 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

The government of Jamaica has announced a rise in seizures of illegal weapons as part of a long-running gun control initiative, however a more coordinated response to violence and insecurity will be needed if authorities wish to bring gun crime under control.

Jamaica's Minister of National Security Robert Montague announced that between January 1 and March 11 this year, authorities seized 161 illegal arms and 1,684 rounds of ammunition, up from 118 guns and 1,592 rounds seized over the same period last year.

The weapons seizures are part of Jamaica's "Get the Guns" campaign, which it launched in late 2015.

The program is targeted at intercepting illegal arms entering the island and recovering guns from criminals and offers citizens financial rewards for information on illegal weapons. So far, it has led to the seizure of over 1,000 guns and 13,000 rounds of ammunition, reported the Jamaica Gleaner.

According to Minister Montague, the government is now also working on a review of the Firearms Licensing Authority (FLA) to assess how best to tighten gun ownership restrictions to ensure legal gun owners are properly vetted and trained.

Montague also announced that the government is adopting new forensic ballistics technology known as Bullettrax.

"We cannot stamp out the scourge of crime and murders in Jamaica unless we overcome our gun problem. That is why we have been on a serious mission to tackle the problem comprehensively and from various fronts," the minister said in comments reported by the Gleaner.

"A big part of the effort is in building our forensic and ballistics capabilities. We are in the technology age, and Jamaica is committed to the strategic use of science and technology in this fight to create a safer and more prosperous Jamaica," he added.

InSight Crime Analysis

Crime and violence are serious issues in Jamaica and the availability of firearms plays a significant role in this insecurity, especially in areas where powerful gangs tightly control vulnerable communities at the point of a gun.

According to comments made by Jamaica's then-Police Commissioner Carl Williams at the launch of the Get the Guns campaign, firearms were involved in 75 percent of murders between 2005 and 2015, resulting in over 10,000 deaths. A further 9,000 people were shot and injured, while guns were used to commit 1,200 rapes over that period.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of the Caribbean

Given this context, any efforts to seize illegal weapons, control arms trafficking and tighten up restrictions over legal gun access should be seen as potentially beneficial measures. However, the relationship between gun control and insecurity is rarely straightforward and these measures alone will not be sufficient to tackle gun crime in Jamaica, the roots of which run much deeper than simple access to weapons.

To significantly reduce gun crime in Jamaica, gun control efforts need to be accompanied by strategies to break the grip of armed gangs, tackle corruption in and improve the efficacy of the security and judicial institutions, and address the underlying conditions of poverty, inequality and lack of opportunity in Jamaica's deprived areas.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CARIBBEAN / 31 MAY 2022

Top authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have warned legislators that the Caribbean island nation is likely to see a rise…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 31 MAY 2022

The siphoning of guns in police custody to criminals and a naval officer accused of acting in a hit squad…

CARIBBEAN / 30 APR 2022

The arrest of a sitting head of government on drug trafficking charges is almost unheard of.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Rights Watch Draws on InSight Crime's Haiti Coverage

18 AUG 2023

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch relied on InSight Crime's coverage this week, citing six articles and one of our criminal profiles in its latest report on the humanitarian…