Sometimes ..... when I read the newspapers ..... I still ..... am in awe ...... and disbelief ...... at the fast and furious rate ...... dat murders are being committed ...... and that most of them are perpetrated by gun toting idiots! ...... and ..... tho such stories ...... have been starrin ...... fuh a couple years now ..... I wonder ...... when exactly did we become a gun toting ..... gun shooting society (as seen on TV)?!

I first saw and touched ..... a real gun ..... somewhere in the 90s ....... a friend of mine who owns a business ..... and felt he was 'at risk' ..... came to the conclusion .... that owning a gun ....... would be a good way to protect himself and his family ...... so he got one ...... mind you ..... that was at a time when ..... people didn't really own guns in Trinidad ....... not even bandits ..... that was at a time ...... when they weren't really necessary either ...... a gun was a kinda taboo ting ...... only Police and Hunters had guns ...... now ...... is every lil screp down de road AND he padna .... have ah gun!!

I fuh one never felt 'safer' knowing that fren had a gun on him ...... cuz tuh me ..... all that really meant ...... was dat it woulda been much easier ...... fuh ah bandit tuh lick him up ..... and wit he own gun! ...... the gun controlled him ..... he had to have it on his person at all times ..... and when he traveled ..... he had tuh make sure and lodge it wit de Police ...... now why would I want ...... to have to walk around wit a gun on me ALL DE TIME?! ...... and keep it a secret too ...... yep ...... it was not something he 'advertised' ...... as a matter of fact ...... very few people knew dat he owned a gun ..... well the few he told .... and the few who owing ..... tuh macos and mauvais langue ...... found out anyway ..... it really wasn't the easiest thing to keep secret either ...... with strange protrusions in his clothes ..... and 'hard as rock' body parts when yuh greeted him wit a hug ..... tuh me ...... de whole scene ..... seemed like more of ah chore ..... me so ..... I woulda jus hire Securicor!

So now .... he had this gun (secretly) ..... this new status ..... this new false sense of security ..... but what good was it ...... if it wasn't being used ..... especially when ..... at de time ...... it was de hot gun of de day ....... a Glock ..... black ...... and bloody heavy too ...... which surprised me ...... cuz at dat weight ...... I couldn't understand how yuh could shoot at someting ..... and actually hit de someting ...... anyway ...... one day ...... as if feeling like de gun go dry rot or sumtin if he eh use it ..... well other than at de gun range ...... my boy decide tuh take de gun out ...... fuh ah lil spin ...... it was somewhere in de country ...... in de bush somewhere ...... he jus wanted tuh be free ..... tuh shoot de gun freely ...... like how bandits does do it in real life I guess! ...... it was clear ...... dat my law abiding friend ...... with his new licensed firearm (for protection) ...... had suddenly come down ..... wit ah bout of ...... TRIGGER HAPPINESS!

Which brings me to the miscreants ...... dat own and usin guns now ..... de ones who bad ...... and who want tuh be bad ...... and who feel dey bad!! ....... cuz if a regular dude ...... coulda suffer trigger happiness ..... and have dem kinda feelings when he acquired his gun ...... den wha yuh go leave fuh de 'badman' idiots ..... who now shootin up de place?! ...... wit their newly acquired weapons of destruction! ...... de ones wit no rhyme or reason ..... de ones wit no hope ...... de ones wit no future ..... de ones who have absolutely no value fuh life!!??

I never liked the idea of a gun fuh personal security ...... but today ..... in 2008 ...... in Trinidad and Tobago ..... I've come to realise ..... that many people I know ...... have licensed firearms ...... and I've come to accept ..... that clearly .... this IS life in Trinbago now ...... people own guns ...... and people are using guns ...... both legally ..... and illegally ...... I haven't been in fren's circle for a few years ...... so I don't know if any dramas ever played out with his gun ...... but ah know ...... ah could put meh head on ah block ..... and say dat fuh sure ..... today ..... it would still be strapped somewhere on his body ...... and not de same gun eh ...... it go be de latest, more tech model ...... cuz certainly ..... if he tort he needed a gun den ...... den hell yeah ...... he definitely need one now!!!

And what triggered all dis gun talk you ask ..... well it was the murders of the two Swedes in Tobago ...... the two tourists who were hacked to death ...... and not killed with a gun ...... as per usual!! ...... it got me thinking some pretty morbid thoughts ..... thoughts like if it were me ....... i.e. if God forbid ..... I had tuh go brutally ...... that I'd rather go with a gunshot .... easily!! ....... cuz could you imagine the agony of being chopped to death ...... could you imagine the agony of being 62 and 73 ..... and being chopped to death ..... could you imagine the pain and suffering those two elderly people endured ...... what a disgusting, gruesome, slow way to die ...... what a horrific way to go!!! .....

...... and all everybody studying ...... is de blow tuh Tourism?! ...... @#$%^& tourism ...... people dead ...... and more goin an' dead tomorrow ...... and it doh take ah psychic tuh know dat ...... according to today's three daily newspapers ..... the murder toll is now 422 (Express) ..... 418 (Guardian) ..... and 417 (Newsday) ...... rite now ....... da'is 400 too many ...... rite now ...... is time tuh start studying ...... de blow tuh Trini civilisation instead!!!


PS:  .... anyway ah goin an watch de rest of dat crucial "DO OR DIE" World Cup Qualifier between TnT and Guatemala!