Since Jamaica has taken guns away from private citizens, the country has become a dangerous place to visit.

Back in the fifties a tourist in Kingston heard "Sounds of laughter everywhere." Today, the tourists are long gone from Kingston, and the defining sound of Jamaica's capital is gunfire. 

The latest round of trouble started on July 7 when a pre-dawn police raid went sour. On July 11, England's Guardian painted a grim picture of paradise lost: "Tanks and troops in armoured cars patrolled the streets of parts of Kingston last night as the Jamaican government struggled to restore order..." 

By the time the shooting was over, police and soldiers had "fired 10,000 rounds, recovered no guns and found no criminals, but slaughtered men, women, children, dogs, a cat and a goat in Tivoli Gardens…" 

Jamaica's major newspaper, the Gleaner, painted a picture, of financial ruin staring Jamaica in the face: 

"The disturbance … received widespread international attention … and already some hoteliers are reporting a high level of cancellation." 

Ed Bartlett, opposition spokesperson on tourism, commented that "crime and violence are threatening to destroy the sector. More than anything else, they have served to tarnish the country's image overseas and as the Tourism Minister rightly stated, what we are now promoting is damaged goods." 

But unwelcome publicity isn't new to Jamaica, because of rampant crime, out-of-control police, and the consequences of gun prohibition. 

Probably in no other country is the devastation caused by restrictive
firearm laws more evident than it is in Jamaica. Much of the criminality present today can be traced directly back to the Gun Court Act of 1974, intended to "take guns off the streets, out of the hands of criminals, and to lock up and keep gunmen away from decent society." 

Instead, it has accomplished exactly the opposite. The Gun Court took guns only out of the hands of Jamaica's law-abiding, leaving them at the mercy of the criminals and the state. The abject failure of the Gun Court Act to achieve its stated purpose was pointed out in the Gleaner on February 1: 

"Twenty-seven years after the Gun Court was established as a division of the criminal justice system illegal guns remain a plague on society." 

(OMED: these clips are from an article in the National Review early in September.)