The Anguilla Peace Drive Group, which was formed following the shooting and injuring of seven young men at Blowing Point in July this year, is now holding a series of town hall meetings. The aim is to come up with recommendations to Government, the Royal Anguilla Police Force and other influential bodies to halt gun violence on the island.
The first in the series of town hall meetings was held on Saturday night, October 19, at the Seventh-day Adventist Church building housing the New Life SDA Company at East End. The meeting was moderated by Conrad Rogers,a member of the Peace Drive Group. He led the discussions on gun violence with a five-member panel which comprised Malcom Webster and Clive F Smith, Jr (two youth leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church); Ms Navine Fleming, an Attorney-at-Law; Timmy Webster, a radio talk show host; and Chrispen Gumbs, a Police Officer, all residing in the eastern part of Anguilla.
The meeting, though not very well attended, due to a singing event at the nearby St Augustine’s Anglican Church, and the fact that it was broadcast live, nevertheless covered a number of important matters. Responding to questions posed by Mr Rogers, members of the panel suggested a number of reasons for the irresponsible behaviour of many offending young people.
The reasons included: a lack of proper parental leadership and discipline; a lack of supervision in the home where children are left alone by working parents; lack of church attendance and responsible Christian living; uncontrolled access to violent television shows and other questionable programmes and information on the internet and other forms of social media; and, generally, what appears to be the failure of the home, school , church and community, combined, to attract the participation of young people in terms of more useful and uplifting forms of activity.
When the meeting was opened to questions and suggestions from the audience, it progressed into a more lively discussion about ways in which gun violence can be controlled. Concern was expressed about the apparent increasing number of guns in Anguilla, evidenced by increasing shooting incidents resulting in injuries and deaths in recent times.
Among some of the concerns which were identified, and which could be the basis for corrective action, was the apparent cross-border importation of guns into Anguilla.It was noted that fishing boats, operating at various locations on the island, could be used by persons to bring firearms to Anguilla without passing through a port of entry. Concern was expressed that while persons travelling to St Martin/StMaarten were searched at the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal, there were no personal searches on their return (to Anguilla) except searches of their belongings for dutiable items. It was concluded that guns could thereby slip into the island under the noses of Customs and Immigration Officers. It was suggestedthat there should be a scanning machine in the arrival section of the port as is the case in the departure area.
Other suggestions included random searches by the Police of persons and vehicles leaving a port of entry, as well as vehicles and occupants leaving fishing areas, to ensure they are not carrying illegal firearms. The suggestions took into account the need for more police services, but it was pointed out that such random searches were already being performed by the Police on persons and vehicles travelling to certain functions on the island.
The next town hall meeting by the Anguilla Peace Drive Group, in its campaign against gun violence, is scheduled for the Alwyn Richardson Primary School at West End on Saturday night, October 26.
