Jamaica Destroying Confiscated Guns

Roughly 2,000 firearms were melted down in a blazing furnace Tuesday as part of an effort designed to combat gun trafficking and corruption in Jamaica while reducing violent crime.

Police, government and U.N. officials destroyed pistols and revolvers by pitching them into a kiln glowing bright orange at a cement factory in the capital of Kingston. Most of the guns were decommissioned or seized in police operations over the years.

National Security Minister Peter Bunting, who has been in office for just over a month, said the destruction of the weapons is an important first step toward managing the sizable stockpiles of guns in Jamaica and reducing the risk of theft.

"The removal will help to reduce the risks of these weapons being possibly diverted back into the illicit trade," Bunting said at the Jamaica Constabulary Force armory.

It seems to me like this is attacking the problem for the wrong direction. If we want to make fewer guns available to criminals we need to focus on the gun manufacturers.  They are the ones flooding the marketplace with guns. This effort to confiscate and destroy guns is like blowing up an inflatable raft in the summertime that has a hole in it. The more air you pump in, the more leaks out.

I had the same objection to the police departments who wanted to sell off their confiscated guns. Although they make pains to sell the guns to qualified people, some of them are sure to end up back in the wrong hands, just like they did the first time around.

The gun manufacturers are the problem. The gun lobby that protects them and the gun-rights activists who support them are the problem.

MikeB