IN A RECENT speech the Acting Commissioner of Police lamented the proliferation of guns in Barbados.
From his speech, one gets the feeling that these illegal guns are somehow entering into Barbados by way of our ports of entry. If we can conclude such, then the question that begs to be answered is, which country is the source?
The first country that jumps out at this writer is the United States of America where, if my assumption is correct, a person can purchase as many guns as he or she desires, even from gun shows, with the least possible personal disclosure.
I wish to respectfully suggest that we not only have to look at the ports of entry, but at the source. These illegal guns are seriously and exponentially affecting our Caribbean Islands and other countries as well. Just recently the government of St Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands, had to declare a state of emergency because of the gun crimes committed in that country.
My beloved president, Barack Obama, recently exercised his executive power to control the gun laws in the United States. However, the GOP needs to come down from their partisan political “misinformedness” and listen to the majority of both Democrats and Republicans, who have both voted overwhelmingly to address the gun laws (89 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively).
I wish to kindly request that you the reader, because of this serious matter that is affecting us, write the speaker, Congressman Paul Ryan, and ask him to lead his party into reforming the gun laws that are allegedly affecting our Caribbean countries.
I wish to also suggest that our Caribbean politicians, police and social groups use whatever tools they have at their disposal to effect change in this matter.
– EVANGELIST COURTNEY SELMAN
