Lets do more to deal with illegal guns

ELSEWHERE in this edition we carry the story of Thibela, an operation launched by the police to eradicate illegal firearms in Mafeteng.
Police spokesperson Masupha Masupha says Thibela will help reduce gun-related crimes in Mafeteng.
It is a noble operation that we believe should however have been launched much earlier.
Illegal guns have become a menace in our society.
The people of Mafeteng have borne the brunt of gun and gang related crimes.
Since 2009 dozens of famo artistes have been killed in gang related violence.
Robberies have become a common occurrence in the district.
There is therefore no doubt that this operation will help reduce crime in Mafeteng.
Yet we believe that the real solution to this problem does not lie in operations like Thibela alone, but a well-thought-out and long term strategy to eradicate illegal firearms.
So deep-rooted is this problem that it cannot be stopped by ad hoc operations that are few and too far between.
Or that are launched with specific seasons in mind.
The battle against illegal firearms must be a sustained one if we are to nip the problem in the bud.
Operations like Thibela are merely a stopgap measure to a problem that has “ballooned” into a national crisis because no one took it seriously when it started.
It has become easier for people to own illegal firearms in this country.
The abundant supply of illicit guns from South Africa feeds the ever-growing demand in Lesotho.
Our porous borders have not helped matters.
So why do people acquire illegal guns?
The reason, we think, is that we live in a violent society where people believe that they need guns to protect themselves.
We live in a society that believes in an “eye-for-an-eye” kind of justice.
The general inability of our police to solve murders feeds this belief, no matter how archaic and dangerous it is.
It is our humble opinion that to deal with this problem we need a comprehensive education campaign to discourage people from owning guns, whether illegal or legal.
People must see an illegal firearm as a liability and not an asset.
That campaign must be supported by strong efforts to round up all illegal firearms.
Thereafter the police must start solving outstanding murder cases so that people regain faith in our policing system.
The courts should impose stiffer penalties for those caught with illegal firearms.
This business of imposing fines of a few hundreds of maloti for illegal possession of firearms is not deterrent enough.
The police should also increase their visibility in violent hotspots like Mafeteng so that people are assured that they don’t need illegal or legal guns to feel safe in their own homes.
We have to change people’s attitude towards illegal firearms for, unless we do that, we will forever be launching operations like Thibela that will only disarm a few people while the majority continues to arm themselves because the law of survival dictates that they do.
In saying all this it must be remembered that police alone will not be able to deal with this problem.
The education sector, the public, the government, the civic society and local leaderships must play their part.