Do whatever it takes Mr Young

THE EDITOR: Minister of National Security Stuart Young is looking add stiffer penalties for those in possession of illegal firearms by way of bringing legislation to the Parliament to increase fines and jail times. He must be commended for this move.

We all have to do whatever it takes to rid this country of the crime situation, especially crimes perpetrated with the use of illegal firearms. Crime has become unbearable for all citizens.

As Mr Young pointed out, of the 255 murders already committed this year (at the time he was making this point, I am quite sure it has risen since) 207 was done with illegal firearms. That tells us a story. While I have no problem with the harsher penalties for illegal firearms which may be a deterrent for some, we need to go even further.

Trinidad and Tobago does not have a gun factory, at least not to my knowledge. The guns are coming into the country. These sophisticated hi-tech weapons are coming from somewhere. We must find the source and shut down the trade in illegal firearms. This can have a major effect on crime.

We cannot only look at the punishment to deal with crime, 'after the fact', we have to look at the source for all of the illegal firearms and plug that hole. For some reason or the other, this is not happening. So while hundreds of guns are being removed from the streets, they continue to reappear.

The trade in illegal firearms is no small operation and involves real money, big money. If our borders are not protected 24/7, guns will continue to be readily accessible on our street corners.

While I agree that harsher penalties are a step in the right direction, we need to do much more than just this if we are going to see a drop in gun-related crimes, especially murders and gang violence. Crime is so deep in our society today that drastic measures will have to be implemented to effect positive change.

A. Gopeesingh via email