STIFFER PENALTIES and increased community vigilance are two of the most important weapons in the fight against illegal firearms, say shooting enthusiasts. International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) regional director for Barbados, Geoffrey Browne, said the lack of such enforcement and vigilance was his biggest concern.
“If you see someone doing something illegal, inform the police. One thing we can get across to the public is that it needs to be more vigilant against criminals; there are a lot more civilian eyes than police; so get more involved because if you don’t manage your own backyard, you will lose control [of it],” he said.
Browne, speaking on the heels of the murder of businessman Abdulhai Dana Patel, who was shot in the upper body two weeks ago, told the DAILY NATION yesterday that not enforcing legislation was “pointless”.
Speaking at Kendal Sporting Clays in St Philip during an International Range Officer Association (IROA) Level 2 seminar (IROA is a subsidiary of IPSC), he added: “It is pointless making laws if they are not being enforced, and making it harder for recreational shooters to shoot is not stopping illegal gun use.
“So-called gun control is not working because the only people following it are the law-abiding people.”
The seminar was conducted by IROA president Canadian-based Dino Evangelinos. He said his organisation was lobbying for tougher laws against illegal gun use in his home territory.
“In Canada, we are going after the government to place more laws enforcing stiffer penalties against illegal gun use, and we are slowly being acknowledged.
“The problem is, while we abide by the rules, the criminals do not, and most people are not educated about what we do,” he said.
Evangelinos said popular public perception was that guns were bad and everyone who used a gun was bad, but that people did not realise how stringently governed organisations such as IPSC were as it took more than a year to be granted a recreational gun licence.
“We have to go through so many safety regulations, but criminals just go to the black market. However, we all get lumped together.
“We are recreational shooters, but governments will look at the majority opinion; so we need to make sure we educate the public,” Evangelinos said.
Browne said the media were not helping matters either, as they would sensationalise someone shooting people and publicise the negative, but would not cover recreational shooting tournaments.
“We are trying to educate the public that we are not bad
