It is as easy to buy a toy gun from the corner grocery store as it is to buy a bag of chips, but the Youth for the Future organization says that shouldn't be so. According to the organization's statistics, most crimes involving firearms are committed with toy guns and they are trying to put an end to it. And how are they attempting to do this? Executive Director of the YFF Linsford Castillo says this can be done by making toy guns illegal.
Linsford Castillo, YFF
“Attempting this challenge because of the fact that the nature of our work has convinced us that the use of toy guns to commit crimes is quickly becoming a big issue. And so in us trying to do our part, in the whole issue of violence reduction, as is one of our mandates, we see the need for us to examine this particular issue. And so what we are now doing is to engage our other stakeholders to join us in discussing this issue rather than us here at YFF doing it on a unilateral approach. We have decided to partner with other stakeholders in this venture.
We have gone public with this issue about a week and a half or two weeks ago and since we have gone public the response that web have been getting has been very very encouraging from the public. In fact people have been calling us, making contact with me personally, making contact with our other staff members, and only encouraging us to continue in this campaign and would like to join us if they possibly can and so I would like to use forums such as this to continue to reach out to the public with their comments, their advice, especially with their support because we are convinced that this campaign is a worthwhile one, especially when we look at the state of crime in Belize, and in particular Belize City.
Anybody can walk into store and purchase a toy gun and by a toy gun I mean one that is obviously toy looking or the ones especially that we are focusing on looks like the real thing which we know for sure, and the Police Department has the statistics to prove this, are used on a daily basis to commit crimes because these guns, although they are toys, literally look like a real gun and that is the advantage that the young criminals, or the criminals at large, are using on the Belizean public.”
Last year YFF conducted a program in which youths were encouraged to bring in toy guns that resemble real firearms in exchange for exercise books. They will be attempting the same thing this year.
