Do guns help or hurt?

THE EDITOR: Although I am of sound body, mind and spirit, I have never applied for a firearm user's licence (FUL) or owned a firearm. The closest I have gotten to a firearm is the World War II rifles that the cadets use in drills. Anyone knowing them will confirm that they are as heavy as the Rock of Gibraltar and as dead as a doornail.

Our Prime Minister has sided with Mexico in condemning the US for the production of arms and boosting the gun trade. They have further accused the US of perpetuating gun-violence now engulfing the planet.

The mighty US is not going to allow any pip-squeak nation to close down its billion-dollar arms industry that props up its world dominance. No nation dares ask that of the “policemen of the world.” Unbridled insanity has reached the stage that wars are instigated to support an industry that thrives on the destruction of lives and property.

In TT, apparently, high-profile people have their wires crossed because as a follow-up our gun-laws do not make it more difficult to acquire firearms or to renew licences.

In this wild wild west of gunplay diplomacy, we are fast becoming a trigger-happy people. Administrators have hired guns for protection. People of prominence use guns to protect their person and so-called assets. The police use them as their number one instrument in fighting crime. Some ordinary citizens use guns as an application of justice to settle domestic violence scores, while John Doe is discouraged from associating with this product as easy but lengthy incarceration awaits unlawful possession and guilty conviction.

Only normal human beings do not depend on guns for protection. Guns provide a false sense of protection. Statistics will show that many owners when dispossessed stood helplessly before criminals when life was at stake. So why live that lie?

A politician even suggested to "light up the clip” if confronted by criminals, an abuse of this make-belief power.

A previous commissioner of police ignorantly encouraged women to apply for FULs in retaliation as they keep getting the dirty end of the stick. That leaves only men as abusers and sitting ducks.

I am ignorant of the laws governing the acquisition and use of firearms. It appears that a significant percentage of the security forces and ordinary citizens are entrusted with firearms to protect who from whom I don’t know.

I am in partial agreement with the present Commissioner of Police that for renewal and acquisition (in and out of the service) all candidates should undergo:

(1) Psychological testing to ensure that only balanced personalities are entrusted with such responsibility.

(2) Annual medical testing from a registered medical practitioner.

(3) Training as indicated by a certificate of competence from a certified firearms instructor.

Whereas the above do not guarantee that only the right people gain access to usage or that there will be no abuse, there will be some sincerity in controlling and it makes the folly of the ignorance look good.

Classifying guns as legal and illegal will not ensure proper usage or reduce the violence. It is a lame excuse for the continued production of arms and another senseless way to classify death. Guns are produced for one purpose, for which there is no justification.

Shutting down the industry will only hurt the profiteers of gun violence and expose the mental deficiency of those who believe in the safety the gun provides.

Do guns help or hurt our existence?

LENNOX FRANCIS

via e-mail