AS I write I am still shocked and in disbelief as to the mayhem that took place in Middle Street, Georgetown on Tuesday. Shocked to the point that I am extremely fearful of my country and capital city because it has become a very dangerous place to dwell in. When we thought we were making headway into reducing gun crimes among criminals now this latest bloodshed coming from a licenced firearm holder. It is truly a scary situation and if authorities do not get to the bottom it we are doomed as a society. 

We now have to get down to the arduous task of putting together the pieces of this bizarre puzzle called gun violence and look forward to the ways in solving it.
In the first place we have to review our gun licencing laws. When I say review those laws I am talking about putting together a select committee which would look into the business of the issuance of gun licenses, who should and who should not be the holder of a firearm. I mean general house cleaning, a rigorous overhaul that would change the whole thing. The idea of removing the authority under which someone acquires a firearm from the police department to The Home Affairs Ministry was mooted sometime ago and I do hope this is the case. Because there are too many gaping loopholes were chalked up against the old system where guns were known to have landed in the hands of questionable characters, felons, if you please people who should not have been remotely close to a firearm. But, they were licenced holders nonetheless, which causes you to wonder how come this and that certain individual got a firearm?
Anyway, Minister Rohee must be commended for this move but I will also urge him to go one step further. I would like your officials to carry out intensive microscopic background checks into any person applying for a gun license. This means that persons with felonies, persons with a violent temper or prone to violence; these individuals are automatically eliminated.  It also follows that those guys who are of the domestic abuse type would have been brought in guilty with this dragnet. Next stop, a psychiatric evaluation and a certificate issued by a physician of the Ministry’s choosing is in place here, then and only then should a firearm license be granted.
It does not end there, yearly checks and an evaluation report made up when the renewal of licenses come up, to ascertain whether the firearm was used or not. If it was used then why was it used and for what purpose? There are numerous reports of persons threatening other people or brandishing their guns even discharging them indiscriminately and are still the holders of a firearm. This is preposterous! A firearm is issued for the sole purpose of defense and protection of the individual and not as a weapon of offense. So, the screening that goes with it should be so razor thin that the slightest misdeed you are out.
But my most scathing rebuke is reserved for the opposition and their charlatans who are the main reasons for the Middle Street deaths. They are the ones who castigate the police whenever a felon is shot. They accuse them of police brutality and extra-judicial killings. They hound the police at every turn with this nonsensical argument that the police should go after the criminal and make an arrest rather than shooting him. This political obstruction of legitimate police work caused the Middle Street loss of life and if the opposition has any moral fibre left in them they should face up to the fact.
The police was over cautious in their approach to get Deryck Kanhai and they paid the ultimate price. Listen to what my friend who was an ex-police officer had to say “the police have themselves to blame … they should’ve brought Kanhai down at the get-go, period, end of discussion.” This might sound harsh but it is the living truth no lawman has any business negotiating with a gunman it is simply shoot him then ask questions after. This was evident in the lady who tried to drive through a roadblock at Capitol Hill. She was shot and killed even though she had a small child on board. Come to think of it she was, what you would call, a woman of unsound mind yet the police did not hesitate to kill her.
Once the police are convinced that there was firearm use by the felon then deadly force should be used against him. There should be no discussion with anyone when a firearm is involved. This politicizing and foolish posturing by opposition forces in Guyana only heightens crime and is fuel for the mayhem that we witnessed on Tuesday.

I close by offering my condolences to the family and friends of the slain civilians and police in this horrible incident.

NEIL ADAMS