'Attack with full force' not same as Kamla's comments?

THE EDITOR: Light them up! Empty the whole clip! Fight fire with fire! Those are fighting words coming from the UNC. I have observed that there is an attempt to chastise Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for using those words to address a very real situation that can happen to anyone in TT.

Her critics are claiming that her words are inflammatory. I agree. They are unusual words to address crime, but the question remains: are we living in a time of heightened, brazen, unrelenting criminal activity?

What would you do in the middle of the night as a father, brother, uncle, mother whose sleep is shattered by hooligans who are only interested in stealing, raping and instilling fear and trauma in your family?

Imagine your daughter, son, nephew, grandmother, anyone lying there vulnerable and in shock. What would you do in that situation? Would you engage in negotiations or maybe offer the intruders some tea and chat?

If you had a licensed gun in your possession, what would you do when they come into your home? Fire a warning shot? Just one shot because you don't want to kill them? They certainly did not come in your house armed and unannounced to hurt you or your family, right?

While I am dead set against violence and do not agree with most of what the Opposition Leader advocates, she is very correct in her statement, and only those who have faced it will know what it feels like to be attacked, lying in blood and left for dead. I know, it happened to me 16 years ago and I still live with it every day – and with the failure of our system to bring anyone to justice.

So while there must be a stringent and effective policy to administer gun control, the Opposition Leader is correct in telling law-abiding people to stand their ground and fight fire with fire. Perhaps I can take it back to one of the darkest hours in our history and remind you when the Parliament was attacked and our democracy threatened and the then PM shouted to the army, "Attack with full force!"

I ask you and those who prefer to live and adjudicate from an alternate reality, are those words not the same as the UNC leader's?

RYAN MARTINEZ

Gasparillo