SHAWN Nelson is now dead after receiving several gunshots to the head by a well known associate of his. His fatal shooting comes in the wake of several others in a situation that is all too familiar these days in Guyana. You rent a gun; hire or use your own vehicle; locate your target and simply shoot him. Then it is the usual nonsense as to “who dunnit” and the popular response “it was a phantom that did it.” We don’t know how he got shot “it was an accident.”

No one seems to know or should I say no one in the criminal public wants to know who did it as all of these silly responses take centre stage. Even when prime suspects are identified, there is this rush to defend them.
In the present society we live in, there is no want of excuses when it comes to the defence of a criminal. Excuses abound. As the excuses keep coming, so is the proliferation of illegal firearms.
Guns are everywhere. You name it and I am absolutely sure the criminals have it. As the lyrics goes: “dis wan have a gun dat wan have a gun,” guns abound especially in the urban centres. In fact, as we speak, an armed robbery is being committed at Pouderoyen maybe committed with that very M-70 that supposedly went missing from the officer on guard at Castellani House.
You cannot convince me that someone can fall asleep with a big gun such as an M-70 and do not know when it was taken. That is a colossal joke! I’ve had military training in the National Service and the watchword is you keep it as if it is “your baby” that is clutched to you even if you ever fall into a doze. So that alleged missing firearm due to the officer falling asleep is a big joke. It is my firm belief his firearm was one of those in the “guns for hire” scheme. That officer should be sent away for a lifetime judging from the fact that the firearm was not recovered and the seriousness of these crimes today. When the firearm is not recovered, the lengthier should be the sentence, because that firearm will find itself in the never-ending pool of illegal use.
So there is no need for anyone to come up with these silly excuses as to who got what brand of firearm and where it came from;that is immaterial to the argument.
Our preoccupation at the moment is what should be the punishment most appropriate for the criminal when these matters are tried in court. More grave and worrisome is the sentencing of the convict. The paltry sentences given to the convicts are shocking to say the least;which tells me that something else is going on in the judiciary, deeper and greater than meets the eye.
Behind the scenes there are machinations to keep these guys and their guns in circulation. Obviously, you cannot grant a “freedom fighter” lengthy jail sentences, far less a life imprisonment. That freedom fighter, depending on the circumstances, would be a handy tool in “times of need”, hence the innocuous sentences that we get from certain justices.
It is quite clear what the hidden agenda is:to keep illegal firearms and their criminal counterparts in use to destabilise the country and blame the government.
Then tell me if this is not the reality behind the light sentencing for illegal firearm usage? I rest my case.