Guns for Puerto Rico (Part 2)

If the National Rifle Association had its way, Puerto Rico would have many more pistols and guns in general than it has now. That would reduce the crime rate there – so they theorize – and would thus give greater impetus to the push for more guns in mainland America.

In 2013, the NRA repeatedly asked for a loosening and outright repeal of many gun laws in an already permissive society. Specifically, it wanted to repeal those laws prohibiting firearms in schools, universities, movie theaters and hospitals in order to permit “law-abiding” citizens to defend themselves against others with guns. NRA President Wayne LaPierre appeared often as an enthusiastic spokesman at Republican political events and at gun shows to advocate for the arming of private security personnel in schools and for permission to allow teachers to carry guns in the classroom. The NRA motto became: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”

The NRA remained successful on the legislative level. The bills banning assault rifles and limitations on magazine size didn’t even get to the floor for a vote. Even a bipartisan measure strengthening background checks on gun buyers was rejected. According to the April 11, 2013 Talking Points Memo blog, the NRA threatened to actively oppose the re-election bids of politicians from both parties if they dared vote in favor of the proposed legislation. Moreover, the NRA gave money to many representatives and threatened to withhold contributions to those who voted the wrong way. As early as the beginning of May, the NRA was already celebrating the failure to strengthen anti-gun laws at its annual convention in Houston.

Despite this success, the NRA still had one problem as the gun industry’s favorite lobby: The constant reports of gun violence in the media were turning public opinion away from fewer restrictions on gun sales. One argument that particularly enraged the NRA is the following: The restrictions would result in fewer guns owned by individuals and therefore result in a reduction of gun violence. The NRA was faced with the job of proving the opposite to the American public, i.e., that in those places with stiffer gun laws, crime and violence were still increasing.

More Guns Means Less Violence

And this is where Puerto Rico comes into the picture. This “free associated state,” as it’s been called since the United States annexed it in 1898, has the strictest anti-gun laws when compared to any U.S. state. It takes a lot of time and money, plus a squeaky clean reputation to go before a Puerto Rican judge and convince the court that you must own a gun. These stringent requirements set in place via the supremacy of the United States weren’t intended to simply prevent gun ownership, but are due to the fact that the island’s 116-year history is rife with attempts at independence from its masters. The Yankees wanted no part of smoothing the way for that possibility by allowing an armed citizenry.

Puerto Rico is largely regarded on mainland America as a state despite the people’s misfortune of being poor and unemployed. Citizens there have served in the U.S. Armed Forces since 1917, but are not allowed to vote in U.S. presidential elections nor do they have a voice in any legal or political matters. While pressure from the United Nations and progressive countries in the region grows to end Puerto Rico’s colonial status, on his last visit there in 2012, President Obama vowed to make it the 51st U.S. state.

The NRA took the anticipatory step in 2013 of founding “Chapter 51” there, thus treating it as if it were already a state. VICE News reported, “Puerto Rico’s sky-high murder rates and extremely strict gun laws have only encouraged the association to fight for their constitutional rights, and arm the island with more and more guns. In 2014 alone, gun permit applications doubled, possession of guns tripled, and licenses for shooting ranges quadrupled the previous year’s numbers.” The San Juan newspaper Nuevo Dia reported on Aug. 3 that the increase was due to the growing fear of becoming a crime victim.

And right at this point is where the NRA jumps in and says, see here, folks! Despite all the hurdles that gun control brings you, Puerto Rico has had increasing crime rates, narcotics and violence. Until the end of 2011, that argument could even be proven using official statistics. CBS news reported at the time on the sharp rise in the illegal possession of arms and related crimes, saying that a flood of money and drugs had swamped Puerto Rico. Since 2007, the homicide rate had constantly been on the rise, and 75 percent of killings were drug-related. DEA Special Agent Javier Peña told CBS News that although the bulk of the drug trade came from the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he was instructing his teams to pay more attention to the violent Puerto Rican narcotics gangs.

The Australian Herald Sun reported that for 2011, Puerto Rico had 1,136 homicide victims for its bloodiest year in recent history. For 2013, The Sun reported a 12.1 percent decline in homicide cases to 1,004.

The New York-based Latin Post also had good news to report. The Nov. 7, 2014 headline proclaimed, “Puerto Rico: Homicide Rate Recedes Slightly” and went on to say that 2014 could end with the lowest number of homicides in 15 years, according to a report from Police Chief José Caldero, who had predicted the trend. The newspaper also repeated a World Bank statistic that for 2012, Puerto Rico would have 27 homicides per 100,000 population, putting it in 14th place worldwide, and therefore far behind number-one Honduras (90 homicides per 100,000), El Salvador (41), Guatemala (40), Jamaica (39), Columbia (31), and the Bahamas (at 30).

The Perfect Testing Ground

A somewhat different but nonetheless decisive turn is presented by Kaj Larsen in a film he shot for VICE News. He introduces the film saying, “We’re in Puerto Rico, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation,” then adds, “At the same time it has the world’s highest murder rate by firearm.” According to Larsen, that paradox makes the island into a “ground zero” in the debate over gun control. Over a background soundtrack of Caribbean music and the typical – for America – din of police sirens and flashing images of black gang members arrested by masked special police teams, Larsen explains that in 2011, Puerto Rico’s homicide rate hit an all-time high of 1,100. He claimed in 2012 that its rate far surpassed that of Sierra Leone, Guatemala and Honduras.

The growing number of crimes is due to the importation of illegal guns, Larsen says. Police are trying to stem the growth of illegal guns, as well as the illicit drug trade, but violence in Puerto Rico has become a competition between the criminals, citizens and police. He cites Wanda Torres, a crime victim and NRA member, and says the police are helpless and can’t do much without outside help. He takes us on a quick film tour through everyday life on the island, a life that is permeated by guns, drugs and crime. Larsen says he was embedded with a Puerto Rican SWAT team, where he was shown caches of illegal weapons and met with proponents of the NRA’s “Chapter 51” to assess whether it was likely to succeed. Larsen, who reports mainly from American war zones, seems predestined for this assignment. He was the recipient of a Tufts University stipend through the Jebsen Center for Counterterrorism Studies and served five years with the Navy SEALs. He is also active with the war veterans group The Mission Continues.

But in view of the quoted data on declining numbers in fatal shootings, the question arises as to why Larsen reaches a different conclusion. It’s a simple scam: If the reporter says Puerto Rico has the world’s highest gun death rate, he’s not actually looking at the number of murders, only the percentage of those that involved guns. That can be seen in the statistics: “At 91 percent, Puerto Rico has the world’s highest overall percentage of homicides by firearms.” But the assertion that the 2012 murder rate exceeded that of Sierra Leone, Guatemala and Honduras is not supported by statistics.

The motive behind the VICE News film report becomes more evident if one follows the other argument. Larsen insists the police are doing as much as they can to stem the illegal importation of guns, but they run into the problem of the relatively open border between Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland, allowing free passage of goods and people. The police can therefore do little about gun violence considering the alarming rate at which guns are coming in.

In answer to a question about the nexus between stronger gun laws and crime, the reporter sounds as if he might be doing an off-camera voice-over for the gun lobby as he says the NRA saw an opportunity to bring in its vast experience and to exercise its influence in reforming Puerto Rico’s gun laws and thus help in reducing violence on the island. In that way, he says, Puerto Rico – drowning in gangs, guns and drugs – is the perfect testing ground. According to Larsen, if it’s possible to show that relaxing gun laws in the gun death capital of the world reduces homicides, it would be a powerful argument in the gun control debate in the United States.

Puerto Rico’s Sen. Jorge Suárez Cáceres disagrees and is convinced the NRA is interested only in using the issue as a “Trojan horse” with the objective of weakening U.S. gun laws further, knowing that if it can push through its agenda in Puerto Rico where gun laws are stricter than they are on the mainland, it would be a tempting model for other states as well.