Dear Editor,
Has Guyana become a full-fledged gun culture? More and more I am inclined to believe that the nation is well on its way to that perilous state. That is, if it is not already there.
The passenger sitting next to another commuter on the public transportation system could be packing heat. Usually, it is something trivial, like the rain and closing a window that deteriorates into a life and death confrontation; too often, death is the result. Death by gunfire is almost routine these days, and it could be for anything.
There are two sayings making the rounds in Guyana: They are: “Everybody gat ah gun” and “Yuh ain kno who gat a gun.” Well, it could be anybody; and at the risk of gross exaggeration, it just might be everybody, including licensed holders, and the illegal ones, too.
Editor, pardon me, for a violent death is still death anyhow. But it is almost a relief when a firearm is not involved. Taking another tack, home invasions are rarely accompanied by old-fashioned cutlasses nowadays –they are too pedestrian, too time consuming, and too messy. In other words, they are too inconsequential, and demand too much energy and close confrontation.
Guns in the local environment have become the equivalent of the Colin Powell doctrine: application of overwhelming force. This is Texas and Montana all over again. Perhaps this society needs its own version of the Second Amendment, and the right to bear arms; it would level the field of fire and reduce the odds.
None of this is comforting to contemplate. Currently, there is some mystery about the total number of guns in this society, of any and all varieties. The amnesty was not even a drop in the arsenal, all things considered.
It is why I think that the laws have to be draconian for both perpetrators and those officers of the law, who look the other way upon discovery. Further, there should be a gun court, and one that is closely scrutinized to monitor for skullduggery. Additionally, I think that a comprehensive and scrupulous effort must be made to dismantle the criminal networks. Easier said than done, but they are not unknown. To cut a real fine point, the police are familiar with who they are.
The last point I wish to recommend is the building of a new correctional facility. There is one condition: it must be out of the city, or anywhere near it. Given the amount of criminal activity and the associated burgeoning population, it is direly needed.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
