The Firearms Act: The case for measured reform

Although the current approach to law is for lawyers to speak in modern, plain language, there are times when resort to Latin is necessary.

The response to the lawyers’ points raised surrounding Jamaica’s Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 (“Firearms Act”) is encapsulated by the phrase “reductio ad absurdum” which refers to situations in which a point is taken that reduces it to an absurdity that was not the original point being made.

The maxim is best illustrated this way based on the present situation: Attorneys have pointed out that the Firearms Act should be refined to reserve mandatory minimum sentences for individuals who have been found guilty of using or attempting to use imitation or real firearms to commit a crime such as murder, rape and robbery.