The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is “shall issue.” Except, of course, they don’t. Under the sovereign nation’s Firearms Act, the government can deny gun rights to anyone “who for any reason is considered unfit to be entrusted with a firearm or ammunition.” When it comes to issuing firearms licenses, St. Lucia’s Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Security calls the shots. And plants guns on criminals. And keeps “death lists” of people they want to remove from the face of the earth, extra-legally. That little heads-up comes via the Prime Minister himself . . .
In a national address late Sunday [reported by foxnews.com], Prime Minister Kenny Anthony said a team of Jamaican investigators have delivered an “extremely damning” report looking at the deaths of 12 people fatally shot by police in 2010 and 2011, while another administration was in power. The investigators from the Jamaica Constabulary Force were invited by St. Lucia’s government a year after the U.S. withdrew all assistance to island police citing concerns about allegations of unlawful killings.
Quoting from the report, which was not made public, Anthony said investigators found that all the shootings reviewed were “staged by the police” but reported publicly as homicides by unknown assailants. Guns were allegedly planted by officers and members of the police high command may have been involved in covering up the truth about the long-rumored extrajudicial shootings.
“The report confirms that `the blacklist or death lists’ referenced by the media, human rights organizations, victims’ families and citizens alike did exist,” Anthony said.
Did? Or do? Either way, it’s not that surprising, is it (except for the part about the U.S. withdrawing financial aid)? I tell you what would surprise me: if any of the 31 recommendations mentioned in the Jamaican investigators’ final report involved restoring St. Lucians’ gun rights. And yet how better to protect the populace from policemen who consider themselves a law unto themselves? The PM sees things differently.
Anthony said he will not order that suspected police officers behind the alleged unlawful killings “be charged or dismissed or offered packages to retire.” But he said the government will now ensure that police recruits receive training in human rights and special prosecutors will be appointed to assist with any future prosecutions of officers, among other changes.
We need only look at places where gun rights don’t exist to know that the right to keep and bear arms is the foundation of any peaceful, civilized society; where individual rights are respected by their governments. Yes, that even applies to Western Europe, as their people are beginning to learn. [h/t John in Ohio]