Guns: To keep or not to keep?

The issue of keeping all types of guns for our personal protection has become increasingly appealing on the back of violent crimes and a not so effective and under-resourced police force. At face value, owning a gun in certain ethnic areas makes a man complete and a man without a gun is not counted among his peers.

Yet stories abound to confirm what guns have done to many families both in Ghana and beyond.

The recent unfortunate case of a 17- year-old boy who was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to three years in a correctional facility comes to mind. He was alleged to have removed his father’s gun from under a bed to display some bravado to his girlfriend and in the process mistakenly shot and killed her.

In an even more popular case in 1995, then popular entertainer, Nana Akwasi Agyemang, also known as Geeman, shot and killed a taxi driver at Dome in Accra – following an argument over the payment of a taxi fare.

Geeman was sentenced to death for murder but received presidential pardon after serving a long prison term.

Then also is the case of Oscar Pistorius in South Africa who shot and killed his girlfriend under bizarre circumstances. He is still serving his time in jail and his successful athletic career has been truncated.

The writer

In all the scenarios painted above, it is obvious that the availability of the gun at that point in time facilitated the commission of a crime.

Similar accidents have also occurred during festivals, where the firing of muskets have resulted in death and injury.

Such actions have changed the lives of the perpetrators and that of families forever. More unfortunately, their victims and families have suffered losses that can never be erased or forgotten.

In recent times, people have justified the possession of personal weapons because of the incidence of robbery. A number of Ghanaians have acquired guns with the intention of protecting themselves and their families.

In June 2012, the National Commission on Small Arms (NCSA) expressed worry about the easy availability of guns and other weapons in the country.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Commission on Small Arms, about 500,000 legally acquired weapons were owned by civilians.

In July 2016, the commission destroyed 1,300 illegal guns in the country but warned that there were still more than 1.1 million of such firearms and light weapons that might be in the wrong hands.

The number of illegal firearms in the wrong hands meant that for Ghana's 27 million population, the ratio of illegal arms to the population was 1:25.

Whether acquired legally or illegally, the presence of many guns in a society poses serious problems and has grievous consequences.

In the United States of America where guns are very prevalent, there have been many shooting incidents that have unfortunately led to the loss of many lives. While they continue to debate control issues, the senseless shootings and killings continue.

In Ghana, I have not heard of many stories of how guns have prevented attacks on individuals or protected the people who have acquired them.

What I have heard more often have been accidental discharges that have led to deaths and injuries.

It may be an ambitious project to ask for a gun-free society but sanitising our society and bringing guns to the barest minimum must not be beyond us.

Such weapons must be well-documented and their owners, well-trained to understand how guns operate and the responsibilities attached to possessing one. This should include how to keep them out of reach of children and the owners bearing some responsibility when the weapon is misused.

It looks like there is something about the gun which makes one want to use it at the least provocation. It also seems to easily prompt one to show it off, often leading to fatal consequences, such as in the cases I have cited.

Looking at accidental discharges, especially those that have led to death only because guns were available, I ask the question: Should we as a society encourage the purchase of more guns for protection? Is it necessary to keep guns at home? Should we wait till we see the kind of thing happening in the United States to take precautions?