Time to make it easier for citizens to obtain guns

Dear Editor,

I had cause to share in this publication a couple of weeks ago, some reports and experiences of what prevails outside the Georgetown Public Hospital. No sooner that the ink had dried than there came a report of the need for increased security inside the GPHC itself because of what is going on in there. For emphasis, inside the GPHC itself.

For what is happening in there is that when sick and hurting and helpless citizens turn up for the relief of some urgent professional medical attention and the associated assistances, they encounter the unbelievable and the unacceptable. During the hours approximately on either side of midnight, when the people traffic is less, everyday watchfulness a little lower, and helping hands are scarcer, that is when patients are vulnerable, as in pounced upon and given a relief of a different kind: of their precious valuables, of whatever nerves they may have left, and of what may be remaining as to faith in the possibilities of this society. I have to wonder what is occurring when people leave or are heading into the institution; I am not optimistic.

As should be reasonably expected, those present in the emergency waiting area of the GPHC at that time must have some bodily affliction that represent an immediate concern and peril that cries out for help. But now in the confines of the largest public facility in this nation, they are being robbed and plundered of either body or spirit, if not both. Where is safe in this monstrous place? From the records of earlier instances, once untouched areas, such as doctor’s offices, are targeted; and so, too, are houses of worship, ‘wake’ houses, and alehouses, among many other spaces, once considered off-limits. It seems – and it is the hard, troubling reality – that ordinary, law-abiding men and women can go nowhere or be no place without fear; or without the probability (high) of becoming a victim of crime; and then actually being made into one. We pray and we are attacked; we mourn our dead and we are made to grieve further; and we sit down to knock back a pint or 20 and the spirits of the devil pay a visit to remind one and all of who is in charge of our paltry existences.

In view of the environment, and the circumstances of the Guyana Police Force, I feel for it. It is not in a good place; a place to bring overwhelming, or for that matter, some credible presence to the crucial points of criminal concert. It does not have the people power; it does not have a sufficiency of the required ethical power; and it does not have much of the comprehensive power and prowess to combat the terrors in the midst. For here it is, that people walk with the barebones cash requirements for their travels and they are waylaid. Be it from street to store and from town to anywhere the transportation system carries. Citizens huddle in clusters for protection and it is to no avail, because they still come in their criminal trickles and their brigades of banditry.

Since the GPF is hard-pressed to deliver and cannot be in all the places (not even a majority of the sensitive ones) where they are desperately needed, perhaps a radical step should be considered. I think that it may be past the time for making it easier for all citizens, who are capable, to obtain and carry firearms, if they so desire. This is more than a radical step for me (a man of beliefs beyond the secular and the earthly), and one which I do not utter lightly; and which I am sure is going to provoke interminable recoiling. Still, I think this could rebalance the scales somewhat and make the criminally reckless and dangerous pause and consider a change of career options. I think a deterrent is present and pedestrians and patients, commuters and citizens, and shoppers and sporting aficionados, and all the rest unaccounted for, would be in a position either to take appropriate action, and with that facility well known and well understood as to all that it represents.

Naturally, I am aware that this may create more problems than they address, and of an increasingly imperiling character. Still, I persist as crime of all kinds are no longer a daily phenomenon, but now a bona fide hourly, if not momentary, reality. I believe that the possible results justify the risks. The peoples of this society cannot go on like this, where every step that they take is the equivalent of an unnavigable minefield and full-fledged warzone. We are – all of us – going out into the world (many times in our own homes too) like sitting ducks waiting to be picked off at random, or with calculated and ruthless efficiency. Something has to give; something must be made available to level the fields of felony.

Since the manpower and presence of state power are simply not there, then I suggest that the people be given the power to possess the power necessary to protect themselves. It is the very least that they are asking and what should be made available to them. I regret having to come to this point.

Yours faithfully,

GHK Lall