There has been a rise in gun-related violence and arrests over the last few months. This drives fear not only in the community but also in the hearts of law enforcers. It is justifiable that some are worried about their safety.

These are the police officers who believe that carrying firearms during duty would provide them with safety. This notion may act contradictively. There are more chances that the safety of police officers could be compromised if they carry guns.

In 2019, the Victoria University of Wellington researched the trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Counties Manukau, Waikato and Canterbury in New Zealand. It involved sending at least three armed police officers out in patrol vehicles to be constantly available to respond to crimes involving firearms.

The university found that where cops carry guns, criminals think they need to as well, and more shootouts ensue. The more criminals respond in this way, the more police think they need to arm themselves, and so on. In the United States, this pattern has become so problematic that there is a growing argument for de-escalation by disarming police, but disarming an armed police force is much more difficult than not allowing arms to be routinely used in the first place. It is hard to put back in once the genie is out of the bottle.

Do armed police make communities feel safer? The evidence is mixed. While some people may feel safer when they see police with guns, some feel less safe. They worry about being shot by accident or unjustifiably, and the ambience created by seeing guns on the street is to some people an oppressive, rather than a liberating, one.

Minister for Police Faualo Harry Schuster has pointed out that police requests to be armed when attending to a situation involving armed suspects are swift. He said there was no need for police on duty to be armed. Faualo said that under the current law, when the circumstances warrant it and there are reasonable grounds to arm the police, then they seek the approval of the Attorney-General and the Minister to allow them to be armed for raids.

"Our country's experience with firearms is not a pleasant one, and for that reason, our forefathers, when enshrining the constitution, decided we should not have a military, only the police. And the police should not be armed,” Faualo has said. He is on point. History does show us this, and if we have to learn from history.

Last year, Detective Sergeant Peniamina Perite was shot and killed. Early this year, a businessman opened fire at police in Siusega after he held his ex-wife hostage. Following this, there have been many reports of gun violence, including one where a deportee fired shots inside the Faleolo International Airport car park. A police team also discovered illegal firearms when following up on a possible organised drug ring. A 22-year-old shot a 27-year-old man over a horse, and a 27-year-old man has just pleaded guilty to mercilessly shooting a 12-year-old while he slept.

Gun crimes are a serious concern. Many unregistered ones are kept by people, and many will not give those up despite the many amnesties called by the police. People with access to guns have used them in anger or under the influence of alcohol and narcotics. More stringent gun laws are needed. The 1960 Arms Ordinance needs a major rehaul. It needs to be changed to suit the current situation. Sadly, this will take time because the government is in tatters and there is no real concern for issues affecting people. It may be a while before we see a change.

The other issue is the illegal arms that are slipping into the country. Guns are not manufactured locally, and they are definitely coming in through the borders. Until recently, we found out that not all containers were being scanned by the big container X-ray at the wharf. The Kite Runner saga showed how easy it was for boats from outside to enter our waters and offload items and leave undetected. Wipe out the corruption from bodies maintaining border safety, and make border control more stringent.

Guns will never make the community safe, nor will they guarantee the safety of police officers on duty.