Botswana should remain gun-free-Kapinga

But in the past there have been calls that members of the public should be armed in order to defend themselves.  However, the deputy Commissioner of Police, Kenny Kapinga feels that the current system has served the country well. Kapinga supports the ban of handguns because they are used to commit serious crimes such as murder and armed robberies.  He said the problem with handguns is that they are easily concealable.  "You can just walk into a shop with gun and start shooting people," he said.

He said at the moment, it is not easy to acquire handguns because they are outlawed in this country.   He added that even criminals acquire firearms outside the country and this is not always easy.  Kapinga said the ban on handguns has led to a reduction in crimes in which such weapons could have been used.  He said the police weekly statistics show that the use of firearms is negligible.  "It shows that criminals do not have access to firearms.  This week we had 46 armed robberies and only two cases involved the use of firearms," he said.