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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I know that many Kenyans have even relocated their businesses because of fear. We know very well of such a situation in a place like Kiambu, where you will find big homes, but you will wonder where the owners of those homes are. On asking, you will be told that they relocated and they no longer live there. If you ask where they live, you will be told that they either live in my county or in Nairobi. Madam Temporary Speaker, I do believe that if only the Government can license and allow the very able Kenyans to have guns, they will manage to defend themselves and, also, I do believe they will defend their homes, properties and their families, just like what we saw in Westgate; we could also say that they could also offer State protection. We saw quite a number of civilians who saved other civilians in the Westgate saga. So, I do believe that when we allow many serious Kenyans to own guns, we will also be assisting the State because those civilians will also give protection to the State. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know very well that we have something we call community policing. But it is unfortunate that you tell people to be engaged in community policing and the only weapons they have are sticks or sometimes kitchen knives. It is quite difficult for those people to confront the criminals who sometimes come armed with AK47s. Because of that, I know very well that if only we had quite a number of people with firearms who are also engaged in community policing, our security would improve. We saw what very respectable citizens of this country – who actually require to be given medals – did in the Westgate saga. We were never told if any of the civilians were ever trained, or whether they have ever gone into the army or the police, but we are happy that, at least, they saved the lives of the good citizens of this nation. Madam Temporary Speaker, a research by Dr. Gary Click, a criminologist in Florida State University estimated that 2.5 million people use their guns in self-defense or to prevent a crime each year often just by displaying a weapon or a gun, and just because of that, 2.5 million lives get saved. States like Israel, Canada and Switzerland have the highest rates of gun distribution and also very low crime rates. That is why I do support and move this Motion that, at least, a time has reached that we need to allow serious Kenyans to own firearms so that they can defend themselves, their properties, their families and also even assist the State in making sure that there is order. Madam Temporary Speaker, our people are very well known to be law abiding citizens, just like I had said earlier. I do believe that even if they are given guns. I know many people may wonder; suppose many of them are armed, maybe we will have problems, but I do not believe so. The community I come from, the Maa Community, who are found mainly in Kajiado, Narok, Samburu, Baringo and even in Mt. Elgon, we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}