Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter in particular to the Government of Guyana, the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs and his Ministry, Law Enforcement Agencies, Security Firms, and weapon lovers on the dangers and risks of weapons if they are not properly used.
While I am the founder of one of Guyana’s long-standing security firms (since 1979), it is well known that I am not a gun lover. I have always been of the view that it can be dangerous in the hands of people who operate it. Guns, within seconds, can take a life and/or severely hurt and injure people while damaging their lives forever.
I write this missive because it is of great concern to me that many guns have been recently stolen from security personnel, householders, and even from Guyana’s law enforcement officers. Most recently, a weapon was stolen from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) security guard at Success and the supermarket in Melanie, East Coast Demerara. I must say that this is not a new phenomenon. Even my own company has suffered such losses in the past, and as far as I know, all security agencies have experienced some of this.
Security guards should not be in any location where a firearm is exposed to the public. I wrote letters in the media and expressed concern on Facebook of the latest trend in Guyana whereby since 2015, security personnel have been parading with large-scale weapons, including rapid-fire rifles and shotguns. Oftentimes, these weapons are exposed to public eyes, especially to criminals with malicious motives and who at the same time, if used incorrectly, can harm and kill innocent bystanders.
Some of these security operatives had firearms issued to them for their goldmines. However, as with common greed and in an underground partnership with certain elements of the previous government, they began to bring these weapons to supermarkets, bars, shops, and malls to build fear and terror in the hearts of criminals. Little do they know that it only enriches the illicit arsenals of criminal elements. In my view, the idea of using such weapons in supermarkets, restaurants, shops, and malls is very ill-advised and demonstrates a lack of understanding of security. It is a misguided concept that these weapons would create fear.
I have refused security contracts when large arms are unnecessarily demanded at such places, as it was not prudent to use such a weapon in such a location where there is movement of people in large numbers, be it, shoppers or pedestrians. Most of these shotguns have pellets, and when fired, cone out, thereby endangering the lives of many innocent people who could be wounded and maybe even killed. If a slug is used, the slug could move through one person and hit another, and could even be so destructive that it could take off an arm, crack open the chest, etc. of an individual.
With this in mind, I wrote a letter and visited the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Robeson Benn who listened very intently and showed much concern as I explained to him that these guns are suitable for large compounds that are heavily fenced, or as I said above, in gold-mining areas.
As such, it is my view that the Government of Guyana should implement the following measures in an effort to curb such acts:
No high-power weapons should be permitted in any supermarket or store. They should only be used for large-scale factory compounds or goldmines and identified positions where there can be no threat to innocent citizens, or nowhere where the bandit can easily make contact with the security personnel.
Firearms should be concealed and not exposed to the public eyes.
It is advisable for certain businesses to set up security guards who are trained to use batons as lethal weapons along with other self-defence methods without the use of firearms. They should bear in mind that if there are losses, those losses can never compensate for the loss of human life.
They can create particular areas and places where the security guard, with such huge weapons, is in a concealed area and can fire without being personally exposed at the front of a store or within the store.
Yours faithfully,
Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan Snr
