National Security Minister Wayne Perinchief yesterday postponed an official trip abroad after the fatal shooting in his constituency of 22-year-old Jason Smith.He was due to travel to North Carolina with the Governor to visit the Bermuda Regiment on its annual overseas training camp.But he delayed the trip after Mr Smith was gunned down near the junction of Overview Hill and North Shore Road in Pembroke early yesterday morning.He will hold a press conference today to give more detail about the strategies Government will pursue to tackle gun crime and violence.The former Assistant Police Commissioner described the murder of taxi driver Mr Smith, a lance corporal in the Regiment, as “tragic and senseless”.“I met with the senior command of the Bermuda Police Service today and have been fully briefed by the Commissioner and his team,” said Mr Perinchief, MP for Pembroke Central.“The police are working extremely hard in investigating this serious crime and the Government continues to support their efforts.“There is another family in mourning today and our Island has been robbed of the potential of a young man in his prime. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”Junior Minister Jonathan Smith, a former Police Commissioner, said he and Mr Perinchief were absolutely committed to confronting the challenge of “this abhorrent and annoying murder streak”.Senator Smith said: “The Minister has already gone public with a number of new initiatives he wants to put in place and they are being very actively worked on.”He said as well as anti-gang legislation, there would be initiatives to remove weapons from the street and support given to police to ensure they could investigate serious crime and bring criminals to justice.“I actually knew Jason from when he was a young soccer player,” said the PLP senator. “He and one of my sons played on club teams together for several years.“I refereed their soccer games in the BFA and Bermuda Youth Sports Program leagues. Jason was a marvellous player; a joy to coach and extremely disciplined on the pitch.“It’s been a few years since I’ve seen him, but I know his friends and family will be incredibly distraught. It is yet another totally unacceptable tragedy when one of our young men, on the cusp of life as a man, gets gunned down in this manner.“The public have every right to be outraged by these killings. I know there is incredibly difficult and hard work going on behind the scenes at the police and at Ministry level to counter this very difficult phase of what is our number one crime problem. But the police and Ministry will not rest until this battle is won.”Mr Smith is the fifth man to be shot dead down this year and the 16th since May 2009.Shadow National Security Minister Michael Dunkley said: “For nearly two years, young men have been murdered at will across our community.“This weekend’s shooting death of a 22-year-old exemplifies the insanity that is eating at the heart and soul of our Island.”The Opposition senator said urgent, direct action was required to check the violence and “roll back the circumstances that give rise to it”.“Gang violence poses an immediate and long-term threat to Bermuda’s way of life,” he said. “Its eradication must be a national priority the focus of a government-led effort that, if undertaken, can at least start us on a path that takes us away from where we are, which is to continue burying young men who are victims not just of the violence but of the alienating pressures in our society.“Government is the only entity capable of bringing together all the forces necessary to turn the tide of gang violence. Unfortunately, today, we do not believe the Government has any sense of how to go about this critically important task.“We need a Government that acts with a sense of urgency.”