Arms C’ssion to discourage blacksmiths from producing arms

The National Small Arms Commission is set to embark on a rigorous campaign aimed at sensitising blacksmiths against producing small arms.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Jones Aplerh, the proliferation of arms in the country is a huge source of worry for the commission ahead of the November polls.

To that end, his organisation said it will ensure that arms-related violence will be reduced to the barest minimum to ensure a peaceful and stable nation.

Speaking to Class News on Monday May 10, he said plans were underway to dissuade blacksmiths from producing arms.

“Preventing arms proliferation in the country takes a number of things… weapons that are deadly are the ones that come from outside Ghana, and, so, first of all, you have to look at your entry points, that is your borders, airports and sea ports. Because if anything will come in that is where it will pass, so, you need to strengthen your patrol there,” he stated.

“In terms of general proliferation of arms, one of the agents is the blacksmith, so, [we] need to have some consultations and discussions with the blacksmiths to try and talk them out of the production of small arms.”

Mr Aplerh added that intelligence gathering was key in fighting small arms proliferation.

“You also want to increase your intelligence gathering capabilities. That is one of the most critical things. In other jurisdictions, intelligence gathering is very important because what you also want to do is to be proactive and to prevent, instead of curing. You don’t want the incident to happen before you try to solve it,” he explained.

He advised that more resources be spent on intelligence gathering and urged the security agencies to have a cordial relationship with the populace so that they would feel comfortable volunteering information.