On 10th October 2016 the Royal Anguilla Police Force published what it called “Guidance on the Issuing of Firearm Licences”. The document can still be found on the government website at: http://www.gov.ai/documents/police/Guidance%20on%20the%20issuing%20of%20Firearm%20License2.pdf
Following that publication, The Anguillian commented, in a perceptive article, that “Like everything else, the policy may have certain flaws or weaknesses. It has been placed on the Government’s website, but it is unclear whether it will eventually come up for public consultation and amendment. It perhaps may be necessary to state, for example, how the Government or the licensing authority would seek to stem the tide of violence and fear by getting the illegal firearms off the streets or controlling their entry into Anguilla in the first place. In any case, the policy document, as it stands, is a good start at taking some kind of remedial action towards gun control in Anguilla. But it would be well-advised to hear what public opinion thinks about the policy.”
How right! The Government would be “well-advised to hear what public opinion thinks about the policy”. Furthermore, there is nothing so powerful as peer pressure to get a policy implemented. The principles expressed in the Guidance are both sensible and admirable, and we would do well to turn our attention to them in the wake of one of the worst shooting tragedies in the United States – the Florida school massacre on 14th February this year.
In our communities, the proliferation and apparently ready availability of firearms (many unlicenced) are worrying. We know that “violence begets violence” and that studies prove that a person who carries a gun, or who has access to one, is more likely to die as a result of shooting and/or being shot. Why have we not heard that steps have been taken in Anguilla in response to the recent tragedy? Already in Jamaican and other Caribbean schools authorities have been made aware of threats and have increased their vigilance and precautions.
While we can reasonably hope and pray nothing similar to the Florida tragedy is imminent in Anguilla, we would not forgive ourselves if, through inaction and inertia, the principles set out in our Police Guidance lie gathering dust until a tragedy of just the sort it was designed to forestall occurs.
In stark contrast to the position so jealously guarded by the National Rifle association in the US, the policy in Anguilla, as in the UK, is as follows:
“….the basic principles of firearms law in Anguilla …is that firearms are dangerous weapons and the State has a duty to protect the public from their misuse. Gun ownership is a privilege, not a right. Applicants [for a licence] must satisfy the appropriate Licencing Authority that they have both good reason and are suitable persons [to own a gun].”
The bar a person has to surmount in Anguilla before being granted a Firearm Licence is quite high, and safety of the public is the principal driver. While I understand that the Government has a lot on its plate, I believe it is not unreasonable to ask, at a time when gun ownership and attitudes to gun ownership are under the microscope, that it should bring this topic to the top of its agenda. But when they do so they should, I suggest, break the habit of a lifetime and consult properly, rather than in a manner that gives no real voice to differing viewpoints. In considering the form that any legislative changes or arrangements for a reinvigorated implementation of the legislation should take, they should involve ALL elected members and leaders of the community, whether those persons are supporters of the governing party or not. And in doing so they should not present a fait accompli but should genuinely listen to others’ viewpoints.
I will try to spell out what it means to consult properly and to involve all elected members in the process. If – as I believe is likely to be necessary – it is considered necessary to update the Firearms Act, the Government, having formulated its own views on the changes required, following discussions with the public, should not then pull down the shutters and go behind closed doors to instruct the Attorney General’s Chambers to prepare the necessary draft Bill. They should circulate their proposals to ALL elected members and leaders of the community and they should then, with an open mind, meet with those people and hear what they have to say. No-one has a monopoly of wisdom and it would be a rare event indeed if anyone could arrogantly claim, with justification, that their proposals were perfect. So I say to the Government, and particularly to the Chief Minister: “Open yourself up to the views of the people – both the public generally and all those in whom the public reposes trust to show good judgment in their best interests – and stop shutting your mind to the possibility that someone might just conceivably be able to suggest an improvement to your wisest thoughts”.
True leadership on this issue would give the government a golden opportunity to bring people together against a common enemy – vandalism, destruction, wounding and homicide – and would represent an enduring legacy for generations to come.
