Dear Editor,
Everybody has one. Nobody leaves home with it. No! it is not the once-prestigious American Express card; but a firearm, usually unlicensed, that is, I believe, now such an inseparable part of Guyanese street attire. Sure, they are invisible; but they are no less omnipresent and omnipotent.
As recent as Saturday, November 23rd, there was an item from Stabroek News, which shared that four guns were seized in a police operation. That development ought to be comforting, but it is not, and far from it. I say this, because almost weekly, there is a media report of the discovery or interception of another unlicensed firearm; or the commission of a crime using firearms. These instances are not concentrated in any single space but, from all appearances, widely dispersed on a national basis. One would have thought that with the continual removal of unlicensed weapons from the street, there would be less and less of these alarming situations.
Instead, I sense that the opposite would be a position that is closer to the reality. Stated differently, I am of the belief that the more guns that are taken out of circulation, the more remain undetected out there across the breadth of this country. With self-protection of fearful citizens given appropriate weight, I submit that the overwhelming majority of such weapons are in the hands of criminals and would-be felons. The final numbers, which could be frightening, are not the only issue of serious concern. Because, as is becoming more and more apparent, these are not run-of-the-mill firearms, be they handguns or otherwise, but high powered, automatic, state-of-the-art weaponry. And as if that is enough, this opens the door to the array of accompanying enhancers that may be around also. Certainly not in similar abundance, but adequate enough to bring chills.
By this I am speaking of night vision equipment, silencers, and the rest. I read the other day of tracking devices that are now part of the mix. Though not necessarily in the big city, I would think these things are present as fallback options, if not the full-fledged machinery of men readying for every eventuality. At any time in this society, that is a cause for great apprehension, as it could mean anything. But I must be bold enough and proceed beyond the merely criminal. I should mention that much of my focus is on those weapons that are on person and in the savage street; I recognize that there may be no small number secreted away in homes and other enclaves.
Editor, in view of all of the foregoing, I say let the truths of the various overlapping environments be faced. By this I mean, the social, political, and racial environments. To those, I add the time and temperature of the present, which is sure to escalate (or deteriorate) as the last three quarters of 2020 unfold; unravel might be a better word. At the very best, it promises to be a less than reasoned or temperate hour in the history of this national community. In aggregate, these could form the contexts for the pretense of much non-criminal mischief masquerading as the usual criminal predation. It is not the most encouraging of circumstances, when all of what is suspected are aligned to form a more complete mosaic.
On every occasion that I learn (hear or read) of another illegal firearm taken out of the hands of the feloniously intended, and out circulation, there is the slightest exhalation. Yet even as I do so, I am realistic enough to appreciate that the road ahead is not only unknown and unending; it is also murky and filled with numerous obstacles, which hinder the Guyana Police Force from getting to more and removing more; I think what is detected is but a drop in the ocean. Some of the factors that hinder are part of the external environmental savviness; others are part of the ethical and professional makeup of the force itself. All things duly considered, it is the perfect confluence of highly unacceptable and highly unnerving situations. Like I said, everybody has one, and from the evidence not reluctant to engage.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
