Kamla’s ‘stand your ground’ policy is gaining traction across the country. This bold and daring statement by the Opposition Leader has won her the support of many law-abiding citizens who work hard, pay their taxes and are least dependent on the State’s welfare schemes.
It is bold statement as such that wins elections and correct entrenched social ills in our society. I was appalled at the attack on Kamla by the Express Newspaper following the shooting of a bandit at a home in Chaguanas. If it was a magistrate’s wife who was home with her daughter and given the current spate of criminal activities including home invasions, rapes, robberies, and murders what would he have wanted his wife to do? No right-thinking interpreter of the law of the land is going to take a literal interpretation of this act of self-defense but look at the prevailing social realities.
That mother who acted in self-defense to protect her daughter from a criminal entering her home must be hailed as a heroine and be bestowed the highest national award by the government. Her action demonstrated that ultimately citizens are responsible for their protection. Had she not used her husband’s firearm she might have been called a fool by the editorial of the Express with hardly an alarm being raised about the intruder as though his rights are absolute and sacrosanct.
In towns and cities in the USA run by the democrats, the public prosecutors had instructed the police to be lenient on criminals and not laying charges. This was done following the killing of George Floyd. This policy has backfired as criminal activities have gone out of hand. The said public prosecutors are now taking a tough stand to curb this runaway crime as businesses are shutting their doors and moving to other safer states and districts where there are strict penalties for breaches of the law.
Neighborhoods that bordered crime hot spots must be armed by the police to protect themselves from criminal elements. In these neighborhood members of the protective services must be settled to hold the peace. And once again I agreed with Kamla that officers from the protective services should be armed 24/7. This does not mean that there is going to be a killing spree, but such a policy would act as a deterrent.
A major contributor to rising crime is the ideology of laying blame on Christopher Columbus, slavery, and colonization rather than taking responsibility to address social issues. The recent Emancipation celebration was an exercise in apologizing for the misdemeanors of social miscreants rather than making them responsible for their actions. The social welfarism that has been foisted on the country following the oil-boom must be reversed. Trinbagonians have forgotten how to work. A culture of dependency and fetes have taken over. It is common to hear idle boasts of limes with so many ‘megatons of johnny’ and hog heads. It is simply disgusting! That foul low-class culture has been allowed to penetrate deep into society so much so that having a good time means getting drunk and eating curry duck and geera pork.
This criminal culture must be stopped, and I am happy that Kamla is advocating ‘stand your ground’ legislations. If this is not done now, crime in TnT would start reading like that of the inner cities of New York and California and other parts of the USA where ‘black life matters’ is the prevailing ideology.