Chuck warns against going soft on guns

Justice Minister Delroy Chuck says the Government is reviewing the mandatory minimum sentences under the Firearms Act but remains convinced, along with the security forces, that the tough penalties are helping to reduce murders and shootings.

At the same time, Chuck said firearms are a major problem in Jamaica and cautioned against sending a signal that the Government intends to ease enforcement of the law.

“The security forces and a number of my colleagues feel that the act is working and it is bringing down murders and shootings,” Chuck said. “And that is why we don’t want to send a signal that we are going to relent on the enforcement and condemn the possession and use of firearms, but it is under consideration.”

The minister was speaking on Sunday at the Eastern Region Assize Church Service in downtown Kingston, marking the commencement of the 2026 legal year.

His comments come amid growing calls for changes to aspects of the Firearms Act, including the mandatory minimum sentences.

CALLS FOR URGENT CHANGE

Among those calling for urgent changes was the Advocates’ Association of Jamaica (AAJ), which had urged the Senate to restore judicial discretion in firearm sentencing, arguing that mandatory minimum penalties can produce unjust outcomes.

In a July 16 letter to the president and members of the Senate, AAJ President Tamika Harris called for urgent amendments to the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022.

The association wants judges to be able to depart from mandatory minimum sentences where the interests of justice require while maintaining severe penalties for the most serious firearm offenders.

The AAJ has called for the proposed amendments to be addressed before the start of the new court term, which begins on Wednesday.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes also recently raised concerns about the impact of the sentencing regime on the efficiency of the justice system, particularly the Gun Court in Kingston and St Andrew.

Sykes said that although the court became backlog-free, there are indications that cases are piling up again.

“Why is it building up again?” he asked.

UNINTENDED INCENTIVES

He argued that changes to the law and mandatory minimum sentences may be creating an unintended incentive for accused people to take their cases to trial rather than plead guilty.

“So if everybody is going off to prison for a minimum time, what does it matter whether I plead guilty or not?” Sykes said.

Sykes argued that the sentencing structure was, therefore, encouraging accused people to contest their cases.

“We are incentivising that type of behaviour. It’s a rational decision,” he said.

The chief justice said policymakers must pay greater attention to the incentives created by criminal justice policies if they want to influence behaviour.

He pointed to the work of economist and criminal justice expert Jennifer Doleac, who argues that incentives can play an important role in changing criminal behaviour.

Sykes said the timing of punishment was particularly important, with the period between the commission of an offence, the offender being caught, and the punishment being imposed being critical to its deterrent effect.

He warned that when too much time passes between the offence and its consequences, the incentive effect can disappear.

Sykes said younger and less experienced offenders may place disproportionate weight on immediate consequences while heavily discounting harms that may occur months or years later.

As it relates to the mandatory 15-year punishment for possession of a fake or imitation firearm, there was also public criticism that the law leaves little or no room for a judge to exercise discretion, especially in cases involving children or clear artistic or educational use.

However, the justice minister announced in April that the law would be amended to provide lesser penalties for possession of an imitation gun.

According to Jamaica’s court statistics for 2025, of the 756 charges in the High Court Division, 152 were the result of either convictions or guilty pleas, for a conviction rate of 20.1 per cent. That, as the Supreme Court analysis pointed out, was “a decline of 5.16 percentage points compared to the previous year, representing the third consecutive year of decline in this metric”. Notably, the timeline for the start of the decline in convictions and guilty pleas is roughly parallel to the supposed toughening of the firearms law.

“The estimated conviction rates for the leading charges heard during the year, namely illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of ammunition, were 21.25 per cent and 38.35 per cent, respectively, while shooting with intent recorded a conviction rate of 10.15 per cent,” the Supreme Court noted in its data review.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com