Gun control is an issue in the USA again after mass killings by teenagers in a Chicago supermarket and a Texas primary school.
Around 30 percent of Americans own guns, arguing that the Second Amendment gives militias the right to bear arms and that this protects the population.
America should therefore be the safest place in the world but instead it has the highest rate of homicide in the world.
The problem is that anyone can buy high powered guns in the USA with minimal or no background checks and no licence from the police.
Kenya has had a similar debate. Would we be safer if watchmen had guns to deter armed robbers?
All guns and owners are licenced by police in Kenya (and Uganda and UK). This makes it unlikely that maniacs or ruthless robbers will be able to buy guns officially. Gun crime is therefore less of a problem in Kenya or the UK than in the USA.
So let America introduce police licences for all gun owners, and let watchmen in Kenya be allowed to carry guns so long as they and their employers are both licenced by the police.
Quote of the day: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action."
Ian Fleming
The English creator of James Bond was born on May 28, 1908
