If the devastation of human life being done by this coronavirus isn’t frightening enough, what else?
To imagine what has been reported as happening in the United States with the mad rush for guns makes me wonder what at all is wrong with humanity.
Here is how the CNN captures it:
“It’s not just toilet paper people are rushing to buy. The FBI reported 3.7 million gun purchase background checks in the month of March, a 41% surge that indicates more and more people are trying to buy guns.
Updated guidance from the federal government has designated firearm and ammunition retailers as essential services, which means they can stay open despite a growing number of states issuing stay-at-home orders.
“The decision is a victory for Second Amendment rights groups, some of which had already filed lawsuits in places where gun retailers weren’t exempted in stay-at-home orders.”
Mind you, the guns aren’t aimed at stray animals (if animals ever stray in the United States) or just any moving object but human beings!!
If this coronavirus hasn’t yet taught us any lesson about the preciousness of life and how to preserve that life, what else will? Guns…. Guns… and more guns? Certainly not.
Of course, a gun is not a “friendly weapon”. Why do people invest so much energy, trust, confidence, and money in gun possession when they can use just their heads and mouths to settle inter-personal disputes?
Coronavirus, akwaaba!!
Let’s boil it all down to happenings in Ghana as the Akufo-Addo government has deployed members of the security services all over the place to enforce the lockdown directive.
Much of what has been published so far is about the brutalizing of civilians seen as disregarding the directive. An excessive use of force. What for?
Instead of launching public education campaigns to win the support of the civilians, the system is resorting to brutish force, hurting poor people looking around to eke out their livelihood.
What sense does it make to brutalize people who have no substance to remain indoors and must look for materials to sustain their lives?
From the crude approach toward implementing Akufo-Addo’s lockdown directive, it is clear that much tension has already been created, which will definitely turn into political antagonism. Why should it be so?
The right thing isn’t being done. Unless the brutality abates, we shouldn’t be surprised if the civilians mobilize forces to attack the security agents. Bekwai has already given us a clear example. Must it be so? No!!!
Only massive public education and cooperation can help us tackle this coronavirus scourge. Mere brutalities will not. Neither will recourse to guns or other lethal weapons. The coronavirus knows no gun or brutality but can devastate as it spreads. Commonsense must be used!!
Source: Michael Jarvis Bokor