Gunning For Better Arms Control

A recent feature by the Guyanan newspaper Stabroek News has highlighted the extent of the flourishing trade in illegal firearms. Although the police are reported to have seized over 130 illegal firearms in 2007, most of them pistols - up from 119 illicit weapons seized in 2006 - gun crime still poses a major security threat. While the government last year enacted legislation making gun offences non-bailable, sentences handed out to individuals pleading guilty to possession of illegal firearms and ammunition have often ranged from two to three years, too soft if the authorities are serious about controlling gun crime.

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