Persad-Bissessar: Let citizens own guns

Allowing citizens to legally acquire guns, said Persad-Bissessar, is one of the “key issues” that the government must prioritise discussing.

In fact, she demanded that “the Keith Rowley-led government immediately convene an extraordinary session of Parliament to debate the crime situation, with the specific aim of informing the public of their immediate plans and strategies, the measures it intends to utilise to ensure the immediate short term reduction of the murder, kidnapping, rape and assault rates.” Additionally, she called for women to be allowed to legally carry pepper spray so they could better protect themselves.

Persad-Bissessar said if the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) had not dismantled some of the previous crime-fighting initiatives by the People’s Partnership, like the Community Comfort Patrol and the National Operations Centre, crime would not have reached the “crisis” level that it has.