As of this writing, 24 illegal guns have been taken from the streets of our nation by the police. While credit must be given for the vigilance shown by our law enforcement officers, there is no doubt that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Like many official statistics, the number given is always far less than the actuality, so there is no reason to doubt that there are many more illegal weapons out there.

One wonders what has become of our once pristine country. There was a time when it appeared that the heavy violence was relegated to the larger of the sister isles, but no more. The first murder of the year took place in Nevis. The latest gun find was in Nevis and there is no longer any clear demarcation between the two, although the latest shooting death and injury have been in Fiennes Avenue and one man being shot in the leg on the West Basseterre Bypass Road.

It has become sickening and disgusting to hear more and more reports of persons walking with and using guns as though we live in the old American Wild West. More sickening still is to hear of persons being shot, wounded and killed.

People who have apparently not given enough thought to the situation have cast blame at the feet of the government, but no government can effectively control a situation such as exists in our country, our region, across the planet. More than one person, no doubt feeling sick and disgusted over this frightening trend has voiced disappointment and expressed fears that we may have to be dealing with bombs next, like Trinidad and Jamaica.

The situation would not have been as frightening if only there was a proportion of arrests and convictions that counterbalanced the reports of gun-toters showing utter contempt for the laws of the land.

The unanswered question is where do we go from here? Must we sink as other societies have done in recent years? Must the sweet singing of the birds that so inspire and calm the nerves be replaced by the reverberating sounds of gunfire that shatter the silence of the atmosphere? What has become of the calm and serenity that together helped visitors to recognise the two islands as representing one Paradise?

What is the solution? Sadly, the picture is exceptionally gloomy. What is done cannot be undone. However, what has not been done ought to be done.

Do our lawmakers have to revisit the law libraries of this land? Do they need to dust off the old volumes and bring in tough gun control laws? Laws tough enough that would be twice as severe for those found guilty of bringing the guns into the country illegally as against those who are irresponsible enough to buy and even dare to use them?

While our readers contemplate on the above point we must remind that the challenge goes beyond passing and adjusting laws. Citizens must now rise up and be prepared to expose those who might be hoarding such dangerous weapons. For a small nation as this, those are really weapons of mass destruction.

Let us be prepared to give full support and assistance to the law enforcing agencies. Of course the agents of the law must know that people would be putting their lives as well as those of other security personnel if information they submit is not treated in the most confidential manner. One late Caribbean poet warned, “…We are all involved, we are all consumed”. Therefore let us be our brother’s keeper, because tomorrow the bell may be tolling for us.