- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 13/Aug 04:31

Stand-your-ground: A two-edged sword?

THE EDITOR: There has been much talk about the proposed stand-your-ground legislation, but a critical look at the issue will demonstrate many perspectives. Citizens are being asked to stand their ground having been provided with the legally weaponised means to do so, and that seems warranted considering the present crime situation. Criminal activity has been traditionally constrained by different factors, the first and foremost being that sense of right and wrong in the would-be criminal. However, many circumstances, too complex to discuss in this format, have virtually thrown this out the window with “serving the self” towering over all moral/religious considerations of right and wrong. Then one would expect the law in its traditional role to do the job, but here again is a complex situation with many factors militating against its effectiveness. Like the law often being used to serve the rights of the criminal instead of the victim. Or the numerous anomalies in its execution, like “beyond reasonable doubt" allowing a criminal 99 per cent guilty, because of the evidence, to go scot free, because of a minute technicality. Or lack of evidence which has been suppressed, compromised or eliminated altogether. Further, there is the politics, a noted perception being the way criminal enterprise is patronised by those in power to secure the vote. The net effect of the aforementioned is to establish a mindset for the would-be criminal that he/she is likely to go free and crime pays, so why bother about the consequence. So, the proposed legislation is supposed to counter the above. It’s a noble gesture by the government trying to protect the citizens from crime, but picture this: You are sitting at the table with your family and the criminals barge in, all armed to the teeth, demanding money, your wife, your daughter et al, and your manhood is wrenched apart by such violation. Ordinarily you might have weighed the consequences, seeing the good sense of wanting to live with the would-be violation instead of dying and leaving them unprotected. But the legislation tells you that they have your back and you must “stand your ground,” and with the licensed weapon in your hand you feel you have what it takes. You feel you will succeed, but in the face of hardened, experienced criminals... There is only one way to try and solve this rampant criminality in the country: education. Education in the family, through the school, the religious organisations, the community. Not for the present crop of criminals who are irretrievably set in their ways, but for the generation to come, teaching them to be more “human” and all the attributes that go with it. Then maybe in the next 50 years we will see a return to the essential brotherhood of man. DR ERROL N BENJAMIN via e-mail The post Stand-your-ground: A two-edged sword? appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.