Guns and Men

We have grown quite accustomed to seeing guns, so much so that I can't count how many I see on a given day. They are everywhere! There are always an assortment of men and their guns outside our office gates. And anytime we want to go to our beach hut, the gun-toting police (MoPol for Mobile Police) must accompany us in a separate vehicle. Trucks filled with uniformed men and their guns regularly "horn" (the term used for what we would call "honk") and force others to let them pass. The roadsides have police strutting around with their guns. Sometimes they use the guns to enforce a roadblock -- sometimes it's actually a legal roadblock but usually they just want some extra money for dinner.

With so many guns about, you'd think I would have blogged about them by now.

So ... here are a couple of anecdotes.

This week, one of our drivers was sitting in his parked Zulu Control (the name for our hired patrol teams with security experts and MoPol) truck awaiting a job. The MoPol in the front passenger's seat decided to clean his gun. He removed the magazine and discovered that a bullet was lodged in the chamber. When he started poking around inside the chamber with his finger, the driver began to feel "uncomfortable" and decided to exit the vehicle. Less than one minute after shutting the door there was a loud bang. Pointing upwards and toward the area where the driver's head had been just moments before, the gun discharged. The bullet tore through the roof, demolished the red and blue lights on the top of the truck, but injured no one. They don't hand out brains when they hand out guns.

The incident led to another fascinating discussion with our own driver on our way home from work. He told us of the time when a cousin was being buried. The cousin had been a policeman so the police attended the burial in full force. When the casket was being lowered into the ground, 7 policemen encircled the hole and did a "gun salute" -- three times they ceremoniously pointed their guns in the air and, following the proper shout from the commander, they shot their guns. At the first shot, 3 guns worked. For the second shot, 4 guns worked. For the final shot, 3 guns worked.

Between inept handlers, poor equipment, and a serious lack of ammunition --- these aren't very good odds if we actually needed protection! But, we're not too concerned. Most of the time when there is a problem the police are the first to drop their guns, shed their uniforms, and run. This is why we make sure that we carry enough cash, our mobile phones, and easy-to-pull-off-but-not-very-valuable jewelry. That way, the bad guys will be satisfied and we will be safe!