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PARLIAMENT'S decision to intro duce a new Firearms Act making it so that anyone convicted of illegal possession of a firearm must serve a minimum 15 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, has been labelled by Chief Justice Bryan Sykes as "quite a rational and reasonable response to the growing problem for a country that does not manufacture firearms".The chief justice made the observation on Tuesday morning while sentencing a 48-year-old Kingston man who had been found guilty of possession of firearm, illegal possession of ammunition, and wounding with intent in February this year, following a trial.In chiding Mark Shepherd, a father of seven, for his actions, the chief justice sentenced him to 15 years for the first count, which was eventually reduced to 10 years based on the aggravating and mitigating circumstance; seven years on count two; and the mandatory 15 years on count three. The sentences are to run concurrently, making it so that the convicted man - who has had five previous convictions dating from 1996 - will serve the longest of the three sentences which is a total 15 years overall.Commenting on the new Firearms [Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation] Act 2022 which was tabled in the House of Representatives in February and which will replace the 1967 Firearms Act, Sykes noted that at the time that law was passed firearms were not very common in Jamaica."We are now at the point where it is said 80 per cent of homicides are committed with the use of a firearm. So, in a sense, one can understand why the legislature responded in the way that they have, because here you have a situation in which a firearm is being used to commit very serious crimes - and the range of sentencing doesn't seem to have reflected that general fact. So, the parliamentarians are saying of judges, 'We take a dim view of what you have been doing, so we are now going to control your discretion and set the minimum position.' And, if I must be candid, I can't say that I disagree," the chief justice stated."Quite a rational and reasonable response to the growing problem for a country that does not manufacture firearms. This is quite a reasonable position," he said, pointing out to the convicted man that, firearms "have become so easily available that you could have left your house in the dead of night to get a firearm and come back - that is how easily available it is".In the meantime, the chief justice, commenting on the views expressed by parliamentarians about the sentencing decisions of judges, said: "The legislature has taken the view that they are very dissatisfied with how the judiciary has been dealing with firearm offences. I have to assume that legislators are rational persons and, had they been satisfied, they would not have embarked on the process of amending various bits of legislation since 2010 to insert minimum mandatory sentences."Noting that legislators seem to have a fixation with "15 years" the chief justice said, "for an increasing number of firearm-related offences they are saying the minimum sentence should be 15 years. They are now, I suppose, competing with work that began in 2010 with the proposed legislation that is to replace the Firearms Act. There have been suggestions that for illegal possession of firearms the minimum sentence should be 15 years."I am not going to get into whether the legislature is wrong or right, but just to say it seems as if there has been a level of disquiet with how the judiciary has been dealing with firearm offences. So parliamentarians, as they are are entitled to do, have taken a different view of the matter and decided to reduce the discretion that the trial judge has in some instances. Whether they are right or wrong is neither here nor there at this point - it is just what is."The Bill, which was tabled by National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, will be reviewed by a joint select committee of the House and Senate.Previously, it was left up to judges to determine how much time a convict would spend behind bars as there was no minimum sentence. The maximum sentence of life imprisonment under the old law will be retained in the new legislation.