The National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons has attributed the sharp rise of gun acquisition by citizens to the insecurity they feel in the country.

In an interview with Joy News, the Commission’s Executive Secretary, Jones Borteye Applerh revealed that between January and June, Ghana has seen a 74.4 per cent increase in guns acquisition.

In his view, the rise of criminal activities in the country has forced individuals to purchase guns for self-protection.

"I don’t think it is really because of the elections, a lot of people have the idea that it is because the election is approaching but I don’t think so.

“I believe Ghanaians are peaceful people but clearly from the kind of insecurity and other related matters that we have heard across the country has caused a lot of people think that, by owning a firearm they can protect themselves," he said.

Mr Applerh, however, expressed worry if individuals pocessing the guns have good or bad intentions.

For him, the lack of firearm review poses serious threat to the country.

"According to police data, we have about 1.2 to 1.5 million people owning firearms, but yearly, we get about 30, 000 people renewing and that cause for cocern.

"This is because we don't know whether people to go under the radar to use their weapons to commit crimes, whether the weapons gave been stolen and the owners have not reported or whether the gun has become obsolete."