It’s time to get the guns off the streets

Apr 01, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
The recent shooting incident that occurred outside Customs on Main Street is symptomatic of the general malaise of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), whereby licensed firearm holders feel that they can use their weapons indiscriminately and get away with it.
Simply put, there are too many guns on the streets.
The wanton and indiscriminate use of firearms present a threat to every law abiding citizen in this country. Under threat too are night spots.
These night spots provide an avenue for honest, hardworking people to relax after a hard day’s work or on week-ends. But what happens?
Despite their best intentions persons who have not been taught how and when to use firearms do so at the risk of injuring or even killing innocent bystanders.
One of the contributing factors to this lawlessness must be the lax laws, whereby it seems as if every Tom, Dick and Harry with money can be granted a gun licence.
Another contributing factor is the lack of security on our borders, which contributes to guns being easily smuggled into the country.
I am a regular patron of the New Courtyard and can vouch that the security at that nightspot does a thorough job of checking for weapons.
The nightspot has a policy where no firearms are allowed and this decision extends even to members of the Guyana Police Force.
The general breakdown of law and order in Guyana is frightening and gradually persons are beginning to feel that it is easy to get away with wrongdoing.
The Guyana Police Force should be criticised for not doing enough to curb such activities and to get on top of the criminal elements in our society.
The GPF is being used as a political tool and it is time they start operating more as an efficient crime-fighting unit and less as a mouthpiece for the government.
How, one might ask, is it possible for the GPF to issue a release that the shooting occurred in the New Courtyard when in fact it happened in the vicinity of Customs?
When the GPF is unable to do proper investigations, when the GPF is unable to issue correct press releases, when the GPF is unable to solve even the most simple of crimes, what confidence would the people of this nation have in the GPF?
The powers that be in this country are allowed too often to get away with actions and decisions that they would be unable to do in any other country simply because of the total breakdown of the rule of law.
It is time to put an end to the lawlessness in this country.
It is time to get the guns off the streets.
Kirk Gonsalves

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