The Ghana Police Service is appealing to the general public to assist security officers and the Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (GNACSA) in the fight against illegal small arms.

The Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Cephas Arthur, has observed that there is the need for the public to assist in fighting the menace because checks had shown that most gun crimes in Ghana are committed with locally manufactured pistols.

Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra 100.5FM on Tuesday October 18, Supt. Arthur said: “The Police cannot do it (fight against illegal arms) alone. The Ghana National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons (GNACSA) cannot also deal with it alone. Most of the people in the communities know persons who possess illegal arms, especially the locally manufactured ones, and so they should report to the police in order for us to get rid of them.

“They also know blacksmiths hiding in some corners manufacturing guns and supplying them to criminals to engage in their activities. We appeal to the general public to report such blacksmiths producing locally manufactured guns. If we don’t do it this way, we will continue to have several illegal small arms in the country and the criminals will continue in their actions. The fight against it is not for the police and the Commission on Small arms alone; it is also not the Interior Minister alone – it involves all of us.”

He added: “Research has shown that most of the armed robbers in the country are using locally manufactured weapons. It is just a few of them that are imported weapons.”