STOP THESE IRRESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERS.

The easier access to licensed guns by the rich and influential means that the misuse of guns among Kenyans who own firearms is now frequent. Stories of politicians or celebrities who draw their guns in public at the slightest provocation are a constant feature in our news now, what our reporters call ‘’gun drama’’. Recently I learnt that we have a Gun Owners Association. The Association was complaining about the rising levels of guns misuse by its members.What is fascinating is that all the actors in the gun drama have been men. I do not know the reason for the increasing love for guns by Kenyan men and whether it is a good or a bad thing.





Naturally every man has a duty to protect his family or loved ones.Thus, depending on where a man is placed on the social stratum, he will either choose a gun, spear or knife for protection. Those high up on the ladder go for the guns. One would therefore imagine that a gun should be used to protect oneself from imminent danger, when it is absolutely necessary. Since guns are supposed to protect the gun owners and others from harm, it is expected that they will have an added level of responsibility and alertness at all times and be humble. Just like we are told that those who are trained in the martial arts are calm, disciplined men and women who do not throw kicks anywhere, anytime and at anyone. But this is not what is happening in Kenya today. It is almost as if we are competing to show off who has a gun and how fast he can pull the trigger. There are many explanations for this but I think the main reason is selfishness by the attention –seeking gun owners.

This has been aptly captured by Tom Matlackin his article  Men and Guns: An Affinity for Steel (http://www.goodmenproject.com )when he says ‘’Over emphasis on self-protection insidiously turns into self-projection. Guns are sometimes wielded by the untrained to make a statement about personal power or invulnerability—and when I say untrained, I mean untrained in moral values—and this can lead to inappropriate use of them. We see the phenomenon in MMA as well. Martial arts, which was also designed as a set of self- and others’-protection skills, has become more about proving personal toughness or manliness—or even womanliness. But the problem is not the gun or the martial arts skills, the problem is values. 

Perhaps growing up being fed on violence is another explanation as to why there is more aggression and the need to draw a gun easily and shoot without flinching. We have seen so much violence on television and the internet and we now have to practice what we have been fed on. We are products of a violent society. There is need therefore need to regulate what our young children watch and access on the internet. 

We also need to bring up our young men to be less angry at themselves and at the society at all times. Frustrated and angry, these young men can do damage within a minimal amount of time with more serious and lethal firepower. We should teach them to lose the egos and walk away from trouble, fighting only as the last resort.Humility, will not make them lesser men, they must be told. Otherwise they will grow up into emasculated men we are now reading about in the newspapers who will draw guns because a hapless matatu tout flipped the bird at them. The new culture of self-promotion and winning every ‘’fight’’ is what is driving our men to the kind of behavior we are witnessing. This will change if we bring up our boys up to be men of valor without necessarily being aggressive.