For the month of August, locals maybe purchasing tickets to travel to popular destinations in the United States of America. But Amnesty International has issued a travel advisory for the country calling on people in Trinidad and Tobago and worldwide to exercise extreme caution because of the recent wave of gun attacks there.
In an advisory issued yesterday, Amnesty International said, “this travel advisory is being issued in light of the ongoing high levels of gun violence in the country.”
Last week a total of 31 people were killed in separate mass shootings in Ohio and Texas. The shootings have once again reignited the debate to have stricter gun control in the US, which has as part of its constitution the right to bear arms.
In its advisory, Amnesty International said if you decided to travel to the United States, “Be extra vigilant and be wary of the ubiquity of firearms among the population.”
It also urged travellers to avoid places where large numbers of people gather and to exercise extreme caution when visiting local bars, nightclubs, and casions.
It also warned that a traveller’s race, gender identity and country of origin, ethnic background or sexual orientation may put them at a higher risk of being targetted with gub violence and should plan accordingly.
But Amnesty International is not only calling on visitors to be cautious, but it has also called on the United States to take immediate steps to address gun violence.
It said, “The United States has an obligation to enact a range of measures at the federal, state and local levels to regulate access to firearms and to protect the rights of people to live and move about freely without the threat of gun violence.”
It said the government has not taken sufficient steps to meet this obligation.