In Jamaica 20% of all crimes committed there involve firearms, whether death, wounding or possession of a gun.

When here in Cayman we have five incidents in four days when a firearm was used in all five it shocks us and word spreads all over the world.

Then, on top of that, we have a murder that looks pre-meditated and gang related, where a man, Earl Hart, who had been a witness for the crown gave evidence against Chakane Jamelle “CJ” Scott, who was convicted of the murder of Asher McGaw. McGaw was shot dead in East End in September 2011.

On one of the worlds top travel sites, Trip Advisor, a post highlighted Cayman’s increase in crime on the 24^th September BEFORE these last SIX incidents in as many days.

From trip Adviser: (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g147365-i261-k6868614-o10-Increased_Crime-Grand_Cayman_Cayman_Islands.html)

Increased Crime?

24 September 2013, 2:13

I have the Cayman 27 news app on my phone and noticed a lot of news stories about increased crime such as armed robberies, murders, purse snatchings, and an armed robbery of a couple at Smith Cove. Also just read about a grocery store being robbed at 4:30 in the afternoon. I have read that even the locals have expressed concern and want the island to be safer. I’m have plans to go back to Grand Cayman this coming March but am now having second thoughts.

And another:

25 September 2013, 2:48

On the local Cayman 27 news I am seeing about 1 robbery reported per day. These are not a year old. I’m reading up to date news. Cayman 27 has an app and also a website. Phoenix is not a safe city, and we’ve had multiple serial killers in this city at the same time, which was very scary. But, Phoenix is also a huge sprawling suburb and the crime is taking place more in some areas than others so it is easier to get away from. Grand Cayman is tiny so I was alarmed when I started seeing reports of more crime. I love Grand Cayman and the people there are wonderful. The beaches are beautiful. Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

Thankfully there was a flood of posts supporting Grand Cayman and how the tourists felt safe there.

The media came into some flack for publishing the facts.

There was hardly a complaint leveled against the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service unlike the majority of blog posts published on one of our local media house sites. One even put some of the blame on the RCIPS because it was mainly ex-pat!

There was only one blog that I actually cheered – “what we need are all Caymanian parents (not a “police force”) to actually take an interest in the proper raising of their kids from the day of their birth instead of beating them, shouting at them while letting them do what they want, telling them foreigners are taking their jobs, [and] the police are against them”.

When it comes to the question raised by tourists “What is the Safest Caribbean Island Around and Which Are Dangerous?“ the Cayman Islands was placed second along with this statement:

“The Cayman Islands are also popular for being safe among tourists. The Cayman Islands feature plenty of underwater sites to discover and explore alongside plenty of spots for relaxation purposes. This part of the Caribbean is not a place that involves too many excitable things that might put people at risk. In fact, the only risky things that are done around here involve people incorporating their businesses here just to avoid tax issues.”

The U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council’s report, Barbados and Eastern Caribbean 2008 Crime & Safety Report (covering Antigua And Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Saint Martin, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines), warns:

“Generally, criminal individuals or groups are free to roam day or night with few restrictions; burglars and thieves target residential and lower-end hotel and resort areas for opportunistic crimes. Burglars and thieves typically rely on stealth to meet their objectives, but since 2002, reports reflect an increasing use of knives and handguns in the commission of crimes.  Further, high-traffic business areas commonly frequented by tourists are targeted for opportunistic street crimes like purse snatching and pick-pocketing. Perpetrators committing street crimes in the public eye can become confrontational, but mostly they avoid gratuitous violence, which draws attention to them.”

Moreover, “Generally, numbers of uniformed police are inadequate to have a substantial influence on crime deterrence and uniformed police response to alarms or emergency calls is often too slow (15 minutes or longer) to disrupt crimes in progress.”

And the most dangerous Caribbean destination listed was Jamaica.

“Jamaica has long been seen as the most dangerous island. The poverty that is spread out around the country and the ongoing issues relating to drug trafficking has been serious problems in Jamaica for years. In fact, it is estimated that there are about fifty homicides for every hundred thousand people in Jamaica every year.”

Both Jamaica and Cayman have tough laws and a high gun control. Even the majority of the police in Cayman do not carry guns.

“When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns.”

The saying is actually true. So then should we law abiding citizens be armed to combat this increase in use of firearms by robbers or would it lead to a “Shootout at the OK Corral?”

In a book published Richard Stevens called “Dial 911 and Die” the writer claims “Gun control” survives as an idea because most Americans believe one single myth:

“You don’t need a gun because the police protect you from crime.”

This book is quoted in an article “How Gun Control ‘Worked’ in Jamaica” By Tina Terry (http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/jamaica.htm).

Terry says:

“Around 1972, the political situation in Jamaica had so seriously deteriorated that there were constant shootings and gun battles throughout the city of Kingston and in many of the outlying parishes (counties). In years past no one had even had to lock their doors, but now many people hardly dared venture out of their homes. This was especially true for white people, and even more especially for Americans, because of the real risk of being gunned down or kidnapped and held hostage by Jamaicans, who had become increasingly hostile towards whites and foreigners. My father took his life into his hands every morning simply driving to work. Going to the market or to do a simple errand was often a terrifying prospect. The open hatred and hostility which was directed at us seemed ready at any time to explode into violence, and indeed did so towards many people on many occasions, often with tragic or fatal results.

“The Jamaican government decided that the only solution to this volatile situation was to declare martial law overnight, and to demand that all guns and bullets owned by anyone but the police and the military be turned into the police within 24 hours. The government decreed that anyone caught with even one bullet would be immediately, and without trial, incarcerated in what was essentially a barbed-wire enclosed concentration camp which had been speedily erected in the middle of Kingston. In true Orwellian fashion, the government referred to this camp as “the gun court.”

“My father and all of our American, Canadian, British and European friends, as well as middle class Jamaicans of all colors (locally referred to as “black,” ‘white,” or “beige”) knew that we were all natural targets of this kind of draconian government punishment. The relentless anti-American propaganda spewed forth by Michael Manley, Jamaica’s admittedly pro-Castro Prime Minister, had resulted in the widespread hatred of Americans, British and Europeans by many Jamaicans. Racial hatred of whites and “beiges,” as well as class hatred of anyone who appeared to have money or property, were rampant.

“Consequently, we all dutifully and immediately disarmed ourselves, and handed our weapons in at the nearest police station. It was either that or be sent straight to the gun court. Even after we had disarmed ourselves, we lived in deathly fear that the cops, not known for their integrity, and well-known for their hatred of whites and Americans, would plant a gun or bullet on our property or persons.

“So there we all were – government-disarmed, sitting-duck, law-abiding citizens and expatriates. Anyone can guess what happened next: the rampant and unfettered carnage began in earnest. Robberies, kidnappings, murders, burglaries, rapes – all committed by the vast populace of still-armed criminals. Doubtless the criminals were positively ecstatic that the government had been so helpful in creating all these juicy and utterly defenseless victims for their easy prey.”

In the book “Dial 911 and Die” Stevens says:

“As laws discourage innocent citizens from defending themselves, the violent criminals remain undeterred. Absent some other, overweening factor, violent crime cannot possibly decrease in that environment; it more likely must increase. The statist response will naturally be to restrict firearms ownership even more, and to enhance the police presence. Greater police presence means more police, more surveillance, more reporting to government what citizens are doing.

“Picture the situation: government establishes a police force and installs 911 emergency call service. Then the government announces to the world that “you don’t need a firearm for self-defense,” and so enacts “gun control” laws to make it difficult or impossible legally to get and use a gun. Meanwhile violent criminals remain illegally armed with guns and other weapons.

“Anti-gun lobbyists get away with proposing to completely disarm the citizens only because most citizens just assume the police will protect them. That assumption is false. The police cannot protect everyone — in fact the police usually have no legal duty to protect anyone.

“For nearly every American state and territory, the police owe no legal duty to protect individuals from crime. The police in most places do not even have to come when you call.

“The unarmed victims of criminal attack and their families cannot get compensation from the city governments that failed to protect them in these famous terrible cases. The only people on location when the attackers came were the victims themselves. At the same time, the prevailing laws and anti-gun culture made sure those victims were unarmed. Police help was too little, too late.”

On the other side of the coin an article appeared recently on the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting website: “As Firearm Ownership Rises, Florida Gun Murders Increasing”:

“Murders by firearms have increased dramatically in the state since 2000, when there were 499 gun murders, according to data from Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Gun murders have since climbed 38 percent — with 691 murders committed with guns in 2011.

“Only partial numbers are available for 2012, but from January to June, there were 479 murders in Florida — 358 of them committed with a gun. That’s an 8 percent increase in gun murders compared to the same period in 2011.

“Guns are now the weapons of choice in 75 percent of all homicides in Florida. That’s up from 56 percent in 2000.

“There’s no clear answer as to why gun murders have increased so dramatically. But one fact is hard to ignore: Floridians own more guns than they did a decade ago, when the gun murder rate was significantly lower.”

For the whole article go to: http://fcir.org/2013/04/21/as-firearm-ownership-rises-florida-gun-murders-increasing/

So what is the answer to Cayman’s problem?

I shall be trying to answer that in another Editorial.

In the meantime – “When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns” is a sobering thought.