Dear Editor,
It was truly touching to see President Barack Obama recently moved to tears as he announced measures to tighten control and enforcement of firearm laws in the U.S., using his presidential powers to confront gun violence head- on.
As he recalled the 20 first-graders killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama wiped tears from his cheek in the East Room of the White House before signing a package of sweeping measures designed to restrict access to guns by criminals and the mentally unstable by requiring all gun dealers to conduct background checks on applicants. Under existing law, background checks are only conducted by federally-licensed gun dealers. Obama moved to tighten gun laws, even though it meant bypassing a Congress deeply divided on the issue on gun control.
The first duty of a government, including here in The Bahamas, is the safety of its citizens. Instead, our streets are flooded with firearms, and violent criminals will not hesitate to use them at the slightest provocation. Nearly 150 murders last year. Armed robberies are out of control. Our women are sexually assaulted on the streets and in their homes.
President Obama has taken the initiative to deal with the menace of firearms in his country. In 2012 trusting and crime-weary voters set this Christie government over the affairs of this nation with a mandate and a duty to make this nation a safer place for residents and visitors alike. But, unlike Obama in the U.S., there has been a startling reluctance by this government to squarely confront this menace of firearms on our streets. Parliament, which includes Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, has refused to turn its attention to the threat that rampant criminal activity is posing to our tourism industry, the economic lifeblood of this country.
How many more tourists must be robbed, raped and assaulted on our remote beaches before Parliament passes the necessary legislation to deal seriously with firearms in this country? How much longer will we allow gunmen to ruin the international reputation of The Bahamas around the world? No wonder London's Daily Mail recently carried a piece on The Bahamas being ranked among the top three most dangerous destinations in the world to visit.
We can get upset about it as much as we like, but we all know that the level of violent crimes in this country is at an unacceptably high level. There is little doubt that the disorder on our streets, fueled by an easy access to firearms, has revealed weaknesses in the capacity of this government to respond sufficiently firmly to gun violence in the streets.
Public order is under threat by violent gunmen. The attorney general is right that we are in a crime crisis. The public interest demands that this government act urgently to bring legislation to deal with firearms on our streets - not legislation designed to release criminals on parole to add to the disorder and fear in the community. But this business of parole is a topic for another day, to which I shall return with relish! It is Parliament's duty, but more particularly the duty of this government, if it judges it the right thing to do, to act in the public interest and deal with this menace.
There is nothing new in a government introducing speedy legislation to deal with matters of current concern. It was done in the 1980s when flogging was brought back to address a dramatic increase of home invasion and rapes at that time. The Bahamian public, the U.S. Embassy in Nassau and all our friends in the diplomatic community feel legitimate concerns about the prevalence and use of firearms and the threat posed to our visitors. But it is clear that Parliament does not feel that something must be done urgently and, if necessary, severely, to curb this menace on our streets.
Four years into the life of this Parliament and there has not been one single piece of legislation designed to deal specifically with the proliferation of firearms. Not one single debate about it in the hallowed halls of Parliament! Not one single initiative from this government, or indeed the opposition, to deal specifically with this threat to public order. After all, the opposition is supposed to be a party of proposition, not just opposition.
President Obama has recognized the "fierce urgency of now" in confronting gun violence in America. But it appears that Prime Minister Perry Christie is asleep at the wheel on this issue. It is his government's responsibility to bring forward legislation to deal with firearms at this time of crisis in our land. It is not the responsibility of the commissioner of police, who is often wrongly accused of not getting crime under control.
Parliament is sovereign. It has the legislative means at its disposal. For God's sake, prime minister, act now to get this menace of firearms under control.
There may or may not be a need to create new legislation to confront this issue. There may be a need to severely increase fines and penalties already on our books dealing with conduct of this kind. Surely the issue is deserving of urgent parliamentary attention and action.
Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, obviously distressed and frustrated about the impact that crime is having on our tourism product, raised the issue in a recent TV interview. He recognized that it is a matter of serious concern and should have a high priority on Parliament's agenda. But one wonders if his Cabinet colleagues are similarly convinced.
Parliament has not shown the imagination, enthusiasm or interest necessary to confront this issue. A clear and unmistakable message must be sent to the criminal element that guns will no longer be tolerated. Full stop. But who am I? I don't presume to tell Parliament what it should do.
The Bahamas is now in the midst in the fiery furnace of crime, particularly gun related crimes. At this time of great crisis, will our leaders rise to meet the level of events? If Parliament, more particularly this Christie-led government, fails to act, then the words uttered by former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson about his predecessor in office, Stanley Baldwin, might well be apt: "After his death in 1947 there was none to speak well of his memory until, in 1949, Churchill praised him. Baldwin had at least backed Churchill when a prime minister's backing and encouragement was needed. The fact that on the rise of Hitler he failed to match the threat by an adequate and urgent defense program was exactly measured by his failure to listen to the warning of Churchill, and even of those of his ministers best fitted to assess the danger, and to act upon them."
- Mark Symonette-Rolle
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