The shocking news that some gunmen way-laid members of a forex bureau on their way to Sukuta, gun-pointed them to hand over D6M, is scary. The method used according to the victims was professional. The gunmen must have studied the routine operation of the bureau staff and must have established that the staff move money each evening after work, through a certain road using a certain car, before planning their operation with clinical success.
This is a very serious matter about which every Gambian must be apprehensive. It simply shows that our country is not as safe as we might think.
This incident also brings to shaper focus the often down-played issue of gun control in our country. Are there guns scattered everywhere in the country or are they brought by invaders who come to do an operation and leave? How far are our authorities informed about this? What is being done to find out whether guns are rampant in our streets?
The issues also remind one of the recent importations of supposed hunting guns that are supposedly legally imported into the country. If these guns are legally imported and are meant for only hunting, are there any effective measures to establish who purchase them and are they being used for the purpose intended? In any case, it is indisputable that guns are no ordinary merchandise and therefore its importation and control should be strictly monitored if not banned. Already, many Gambians are of the view that a country such as ours has so many other priority-imported good and needs far different from and more important than guns.
We are not in any way suggesting that the guns used in this operation could have come from the imported hunting guns; we are only concerned about any act that would make guns rampantly available to people.
Even in the US and other countries where guns are sold, if a citizen wishes to purchase a handgun to protect themselves, they go through a rigorous background screening and psychological evaluation. If there are less guns circulating, there’s less of a chance of one falling into the wrong hands.
