Житель Виргинских островов критикует власти за нарушение прав и предлагает пересмотреть закон об оружии

Dear Editor, Since 1998, I have invested in the Virgin Islands. I am not an Economic Development Commission beneficiary. I pay substantial taxes here, support jobs, and have tried to help solve difficult problems. I founded Project Fair Waters to defend the territory’s marine-tourism economy — which supports as many as 5,000 jobs and contributes $166 million to the local economy — and to protect territorial rights against predatory BVI charter-vessel fees. I also founded Project Bleachers to restore recreational spaces and support youth sports, tutoring, mentorship, job pathways, and communities free from gun violence, drugs, and blight. Through Crown Bay Marina and Virgin Islands Safe Gun Owners (VISGO), my goal is simple: strengthen the Virgin Islands, defend its rights, and build safer communities. That is why the treatment I received on a local radio program was not only personally offensive; it was bad for the territory. The host and guests had an opportunity to discuss a serious civil-rights issue. Instead, the broadcast descended into ridicule and falsehood. I was referred to as “that transient,” and compared to “another Epstein,” mocked the Constitution by saying, “shove it up the backside,” and falsely claimed that I said innocent bystanders getting hurt was “better them than he.” I never said that. I would never say that. Referring to me, one of the guests, Sen. Avery Lewis, first asserted that “the guy wanted to walk around the Virgin Islands with a machine gun in a bag,” and the claim was repeated by Sen. Marise James and the host. . That allegation was untrue; the conduct described was already illegal before Act No. 9113 and remains illegal after its enactment. Nor do I own a machine gun. This is not about hurt feelings. As a mixed-race child attending an all-Japanese grade school in postwar Yokohama, I heard contempt that I hoped I would never hear again. I did not expect to hear it 50 years later in the Virgin Islands, where I have invested, paid taxes, created jobs, and tried to help the community. As a former real-estate investment banker with Salomon Brothers Inc. and Lehman Brothers, I learned that investment depends on trust. Investors ask whether a community respects the rule of law, listens to stakeholders, and treats productive people fairly. The Virgin Islands needs investment to fix infrastructure, stabilize WAPA, create jobs, strengthen marine tourism, and make communities safer. If public officials and political staffers answer criticism with personal attacks, future investors will notice. The same problem appears in Act No. 9113. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued VIPD over alleged civil-rights violations in the firearms permitting system. In describing how the Act was developed, Attorney General Gordon Rhea identified those who shaped it, including his office, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and his staff, VIPD, and several senators. Not once did he identify even one victim of the alleged VIPD civil-rights violations as a person who had been consulted before his office gave a full-throated endorsement of a law it helped craft. That omission matters because the old law was at risk of being struck down as unconstitutional, and because the Police commissioner’s corresponding abuse of discretion made the system indefensible. So why is our government not listening to the people? Attorney Kostas Moros of the Second Amendment Foundation warned during a brief half-day hearing that the Legislature should wait for imminent court rulings before rushing Bill No. 36-0144 into law. He was right. Recent Supreme Court and appellate rulings cut against the assumptions behind Act No. 9113, making it look like Swiss cheese. Using objective AI-assisted criteria that any reader can recreate, my updated constitutional comparison rates Act No. 9113 at only 2.7 out of 10 for constitutionality and litigation defensibility. Sen. Carla Joseph’s proposed redraft, A35-C.1, rates 9.7 out of 10. It preserves firearm registration while replacing discretion and confusion with objective standards, affordable fees, enforceable deadlines, due process, confidentiality, no warrantless home inspections, lawful visitor recognition, and respect for federally lawful firearms and devices. It also treats public safety as prevention through Safer Community Spaces, including youth recreation, tutoring, mentorship, apprenticeships, and jobs. Unlike Act No. 9113, A35- C.1 was developed by the people for the people. That is not a “gun lobby” issue. It is a Virgin Islands issue. Act No. 9113 affects taxi drivers, tow-truck drivers, real-estate agents, other business owners and employees, working mothers, visitors, and law- abiding citizens who simply want clear rules and fair treatment. After I filed an ethics complaint with the Ethics Committee of the 36th Legislature, the Facebook post containing the broadcast was taken down the same day. Whatever the reason, the damage was already done. The Virgin Islands has extraordinary natural resources and extraordinary people. But we will not reach our potential if we attack those trying to help, ignore constitutional limits, and punish productive citizens for speaking up. We should focus on doing the simple things respectfully and reasonably: honor the Constitution; fix WAPA and other infrastructure; protect jobs; treat residents, investors, and all persons fairly; encourage community input on proposed legislation; and build safer community spaces where families and youth can thrive — not communities where public officials or political staffers ridicule constitutional rights and mock the Constitution itself. — Kosei Ohno, St. Thomas, is the founder of Virgin Islands Safe Gun Owners and the president and owner of Crown Bay Marina.