Let ‘buy-guns’ be bygones

Because many newspapermen have been assassinated, it was suggested that all newspapermen be allowed to carry guns. Now following the recent killings of local judges, the Supreme Court en banc organized a Judicial Security Committee for the protection of lower court judges, who will be allowed to carry firearms even without permits. In short, the solution to the recent assassinations of newsmen and judges lie on their being able to protect themselves personally with their own guns. Can untrained newsmen and judges actually shoot it out with professional assassins?

Owning a gun and knowing how to use a gun are two distinct things. And being a crack shot in hitting a fixed target and shooting it out in actual battle are not one and the same thing. The truth is that the police are now saying that protection from assassins is a personal responsibility. True it is that we must all take measures to protect ourselves. But if we are all going to be asked to carry guns, the number of gun victims will increase and not decrease. We believe that only policemen and soldiers should be allowed to carry guns in public.

What would be a positive measure is to study the individual cases of all newsmen and local judges that were victims of assassins. Were they good newsmen and judges? Why were they assassinated? Was it because they did their duties as journalists and judges conscientiously or were they violating the rules or laws governing their own professions? We have been a columnist for more than 50 years and we never felt that we needed a gun to protect ourselves.

What we cannot figure out is why the assassins of the newsmen and local judges remain at large. How come they cannot be identified? Is it possible that their murders had absolutely nothing to do with their being newsmen or local judges?

In the meantime, a report has come out that in the House of Representatives an undisclosed number of firearms and several rounds of ammunition are missing from the armory of the House sergeant-at-arms. Sources who requested anonymity have two theories. One is that it was used in the last elections. The other is that they may have found their way into the hands of security personnel of some congressmen.

One thing is certain. We will have more peace when we have less guns. We see nothing wrong with people owning guns if they are kept at home. But to encourage people to go around with guns to protect themselves will definitely cause more gun casualties. Small differences will end up in deadly gun battles. If possible, civilians should not be allowed to carry arms in public.