Bartlett: Improved detection rate better than guns

Instead, the Association is calling on police to improve their detection rate.

Association president Daphne Bartlett said, “In light of what is happening in the country, I would have to say it might be a good suggestion.

More and more we are having attacks on the business community and business owners.

And the perpetrators all have guns, so you are helpless when are faced with all these gun-toting bandits.” Cunupia Chamber president Rasheed Ali made the call for easier access to licensed firearms for business owners on Saturday in light of the murders of Razia Sieuchan, a pharmacy owner and Julian Moonsammy, a contractor. Ali said it was high time for business people to be given easier access to licensed firearms for their own protection.

He is calling for a meeting with National Security Minister Edmund Dillon to discuss the issue.

Bartlett said she agrees that the criteria for getting a licensed firearm is worth revisiting, but questioned its effectiveness in a country where criminality has become a way of life for many. “It is not just having a gun. We don’t want to have a gun warfare. We are saying put things in place so the criminals would know that they will be caught. They would think twice if they know their actions have consequences,” Bartlett said.