Federation is waking up to the news of the loss of another young male to violence and the cry goes up “we need to get these guns off the street”.
I personally believe that guns have no place in our country, the only people that should be in possession of guns are our police officers and only after they have been properly trained and vetted to demonstrate that they have the maturity to handle such a responsibility. However, I also believe we spend too much time focusing on the tool, “gun” and not what has led to a willingness to take a life.
As long as our youth have no value for life the taking of life will continue by gun, cutlass or other tool. By now it should be clear that the Federation faces a crisis that is not going to be resolved in 48 hours or 48 months with a cookie cutter solution of more police, guns, laws or greater punishment. Think about it youth getting involved in this culture of violence know it will shorten their life, their the ones dying, so threatening them with jail or hanging has little bearing on someone who embraces this violent culture and does not value their life.
When I was practicing Criminal Law I represented a young man who was known as an enforcer in the criminal element, he was suspected of committing murder more than once. I asked him how could he take a life, his response was enlightening, "It is easy, if I do not respect my life why would I respect yours?" This statement had a profound impact on me as I realized rehabilitation was all about getting a person to value their own life, once they value their own then by extrapolation they value others.
From my conversations with young men in the Federation, particularly those involved in the culture of violence, this is an issue, they view themselves as valueless, in many cases they have been told this since almost birth, they talk about being told they are "disgusting, dumb, ignorant, worthless, stupid since a very young age, this results in self-devaluation and the resulting devaluation of others and anger. We have to find a way to secure our population but also to address the sense of lack of self worth and anger among our youth. This is a difficult task, in the words of Chief Troy Hagen, Chief of City Police, Regina, Canada, at Operation Future's conference on youth, crime and violence in 2011 "You cannot arrest your way out of this problem."
The Second Commandment tells us to “Love thy neighbour as yourself.” However, if I don’t love myself than how can I love thy neighbour?
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