Legalising Gun Ownership

EDGY OPTIMIST By Obinna Chima

“Arms proliferation is not good, but if you cannot take the arms from the hands of criminals, then why should you deny arms to those who are mature and whom you can even trust? So, a man who has worked in Federal Civil Service up to the level of a Chief is not trusted to be trained and armed?

“Not to talk of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). The FRSC was established because of accidents and to rescue people. But today, the safety we are talking about is to be protected on the road from kidnappers and other criminals. So, why are we wasting time in training and equipping them (FRSC officials)? And then, if you are arming one vigilante, why can’t you arm the other?”

The above quote from Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika (retd), during a recent interview with THISDAY captures a growing frustration over the relentless killings across the country. From the north, south, east, and west, the insecurity in the country appears to be spiralling out of the control of an overwhelmed security architecture.

The grim reality is that scarcely a day passes without reports of Nigerians murdered, mostly in rural communities, attacked in places of worship, ambushed on their farms, roads or abducted in large numbers by criminal gangs operating with alarming audacity.

In fact, latest data compiled from media reports by the HumAngle Tracker showed that at least 524 people lost their lives in various tragic incidents across Nigeria in January. A large number of the deaths were caused by terrorists’ killings, while others were as a result of conflict and humanitarian crises and road accidents.  As troubling as that number is, it does not capture the amount of those physically injured due to violent attacks, the mental burden that survivors suffer due to the loss of family and friends, as well as the economic and social cost of terrorist activities. This increasingly brazen attacks and killings have since attracted global attention.

The former COAS’ argument is a challenge to what is seen as an imbalance in Nigeria’s security architecture, as while criminals operate freely with sophisticated weapons, law-abiding citizens remain largely defenceless with deepening public vulnerability.

Advocates of regulated gun ownership argue that a tightly controlled licensing regime anchored on strict background checks, mandatory training and psychological evaluation could serve as a deterrent and complement overstretched security forces, particularly in remote communities where response times are slow.

The primary purpose of government is the welfare and security of the people as provided for and enshrined in the constitution. But where, daily, hundreds of people are kidnapped with huge amounts paid for ransom and those not lucky killed, then the need for citizens to defend themselves becomes urgent and an unavoidable reality.

Nigeria’s 1959 Firearms Act is outdated and insufficient to address contemporary realities. Some of its flaws are its outdated provisions for a modern security landscape; weak penalties that do not deter criminals; poor regulation of arms dealers and licencing; a lack of clear provisions on modern and military-grade weapons; weak monitoring and tracing mechanisms; outdated enforcement framework; no clear provisions on community vigilante groups or non-state actors, as well as failure to address smuggling and porous borders.

A lawmaker representing Osun East in the Senate, Francis Fadahunsi had last November, urged the National Assembly to enact a law that would enable responsible Nigerians to bear arms, especially now that the country is grappling with worsening security challenges. Fadahunsi, while advancing arguments on the need to allow responsible Nigerians to bear arms, said not less than 120 countries across the globe have legalised arms bearing by the people.

Before Fadahunsi, the lawmaker representing Delta North senatorial district, Ned Nwoko, had, through a bill he sponsored, also called for the introduction of legislation to allow civilians own and carry firearms.

For Nwoko, “It’s evident that the existing security measures have not been sufficient in safeguarding  legally own guns. Allowing law-abiding citizens to possess firearms could potentially provide a sense of security and a means to protect themselves and their families from immediate threats.

“If the bandits, terrorists, and criminals know that where they are visiting to attack or destroy property and steal, the people around there have sophisticated weapons, as they have, they will caution themselves.”

Therefore, legalising firearms for responsible citizens can serve as a critical measure to enhance personal security and deter criminal activities.

As Ihejirika pointedly observed in that interview, insecurity in Nigeria, “is like when cancer has spread. When cancer spreads, treatment is not easy. Now that it has spread, drastic measures would be required. Any nation that waits would be overwhelmed. The battle is like a race; it is not like a wrestling match. If you pause, the enemy keeps moving.”

While those against legalising gun ownership have cited the country’s legal and institutional weaknesses, as well as concerns about emotional restraint, as reasons for their opposition, the grim reality of unrelenting attacks across communities suggests that the greater danger lies in leaving law-abiding citizens perpetually defenceless in the face of heavily armed criminals who operate without resistance. I do not believe that legalising the regulated carrying of firearms by responsible Nigerians will plunge the country into anarchy. On the contrary, empowering vetted and trained citizens to defend themselves would signal a decisive shift from passive victimhood to lawful self-protection.

A regulated framework that allows responsible citizens access to firearms would not promote chaos, but would introduce deterrence, making criminal incursions far more costly and far less certain of success.

However, firearms ownership should be strictly tied to mental fitness certification by qualified medical practitioners, comprehensive background checks, mandatory training, and periodic renewals. Sanity, temperament, and accountability must be the pillars of any licensing regime. A controlled system that distinguishes between lawful possession and criminal misuse would strengthen order, not weaken it.

Therefore, the onus now rests on the National Assembly to act decisively by passing the self-defence and firearms ownership regulation bill sponsored by Nwoko.

Reforming the existing firearms law to accommodate responsible personal ownership would send a clear message that Nigeria will no longer monopolise vulnerability while criminals monopolise force.