There are two main assumptions behind the Soca Warriors Gun Amnesty plan. The first is that the hero-worship of the national footballers extends to the gangs that are responsible for most of the murders taking place.
What we can say, however, is that on November 16, when the Soca Warriors triumphedover Bahrain, there were two murders while on the following day there were two more. And, as every citizen is painfully aware, the murder rate for the rest of the year increased to more than one per day. So, even if it is true that the gangs celebrated the Soca Warriors’ victory with the rest of the nation, that did not distract them from their nefarious activities. Then there is the matter of incentives. “Members of the current Soca Warriors team have pledged to do what they can by making an impassioned plea to these gangs to put down their guns and give themselves, their families, communities and country a chance for a better, safer and more secure future.” But an impassioned plea, no matter who it comes from, provides no sort of incentive for gang members to relinquish their guns.
In the first place, they would do so only if they were given some sort of guarantee that members of other gangs would do the same. So that would require negotiation between gang leaders even before the gun amnesty plan got underway — and it is difficult to see what sort of guarantee they could offer one another. In the second place, even if that could happen, it is not a given that abandoning guns creates a “better, safer and more secure future” for these individuals. To be sure, their lives are nasty, brutish and short, but without guns their lives might only be nasty, brutish, and a little longer. And, in the third place, guns for these persons are tools for their work and, just as importantly, signs of status and power. What does the Gun Amnesty Plan offer to trump this?
The ad also claims that, “All around the world, the success of gun amnesty programmes are being lauded.” In fact, gun amnesty plans have generally failed. Even where guns are turned in, they tend to be junk and the turn-ins never match the number of new firearms coming on the market. So what does this Gun Amnesty Plan hope to achieve? “If Jack Warner’s initiative brings in just a few guns or positively alters just one life, it would have been well worth the effort,” says the ad.
Frankly, if that is all it achieves, this whole plan would seem to be a waste of money and time. But perhaps, by clearly claiming this to be his initiative, Mr Warner hopes to restore the goodwill that he briefly enjoyed from the national community after the Soca Warriors’ historic entry into the World Cup. That goodwill rapidly dissipated when citizens discovered that Mr Warner had been using his position in FIFA to get an exclusive deal for World Cup tickets for a travel agency he owns. He can rest assured, however, that this plan will win him kudos only if the amnesty actually helps reduce the murder rate.