Are We Missing the Point? [Archives:2001/03/Viewpoint]

The latest Amran Mosque incident shook many people and caused a lot of security officials to be concerned.
Having a gunman firing randomly at tens of worshippers in a mosque, is not something that we see often. We also do not often find a person mad enough to go to the public and shoot fire at anyone he sees in the street. But what we see, and keep on ignoring day after day, month after month, and year after year, is the carrying of weapons everywhere in the country.
For any foreign observer reading some of the many articles about revenge incidents, clashes between forces and tribesmen, kidnapping, etc., will probably say, Hello?? Anyone home? Gentlemen, you are missing the point! You have an armed population, everyone can easily obtain a weapon. This is why such incidents happen. Dont look no more!
This may be true. We may indeed be missing the point, as we can imagine what would happen if anyone in the country could obtain a weapon without permission or authorization. I dont want to be interrupted at this point by an official or two saying, You know we do prohibit the carrying of weapons without a license, and once they are found, they are confiscated! I wonder if such officials are fooling us or fooling themselves. Is it true that the tribesmen wondering all over the cities, kidnapping this and shooting at that, all have licenses and our kind government is taking that into consideration, and hence allowing them to carry weapons? Give me a break!
If we continue to assume that the situation will be stable and calm while we have an average of more than two pieces of weapons per Yemeni, then we must be either too naive or with all due respect, stupid.
What makes me so frustrated is that the government has never thought of any plan, neither long-term nor short-term to reduce the number of weapons in the country. In a time we are seeking foreign investment, tourism, and security, we cannot simply ignore this issue any more. I do not demand a complete solution for this awkward problem, especially that we will be dealing with tribal communities, but what I want is a long-term plan to work on reducing weapons in Yemen. We must do something to stop the increasing number of smuggled and imported weapons, which continue to threaten our security and also our economy. It does not require super intelligence to understand that working on such a plan will be in the best of our countrys interests, nor will it require a miracle to happen.
Such horrible incidents as the Amran mosques massacre that occurred last Wednesday is just one of many happening across the country, some reported, but many never reach the press desk. However, most of them would not have happened if we had a regulating law for the purchase and use of weapons.
I dont want to continue talking about something that is too obvious and clear, but cant we realize that the spread of weapons is why we are losing so many lives that could have been otherwise saved?
At the end of my viewpoint article that I wrote in frustration after I realized the dimensions of loss in the Amran mosques incident, I cant help asking the question:
Are we missing the point?!

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