There has been a lot of debate since Friday about the absolute discharge given to 72-year-old Egbert Haywood, who was caught leaving the Island with a gun he said he had accidentally left in his luggage when he left for Bermuda.Many people have noted the apparent unfairness in the tough treatment given to Bermudians and others caught bringing guns and ammunition into Bermuda and the manifestly easier treatment of some US citizens who have been caught leaving the Island with weapons.The penalties for gun possession are severe, and rightly so, especially given the surge in gun murders in the last two or three years.On the other hand, there has been no reason to disbelieve Mr Haywood and others who say they brought weapons with them by accident and had no intention of using them in Bermuda. Very little would be gained by having them serve prison sentences, as the courts have recognised. The problem is the United States’ insistence on having one of the most dangerous gun ownership policies in the world that creates this problem.What is worrying is the fact that visitors have, on too many occasions, been able to board planes in the US with guns in their luggage, have passed through US security checks, landed in Bermuda and passed through more security checks and Customs without the weapons being detected. It has only been when they have left the Island that they have been caught.This begs the question of how many other weapons have come into the Island undetected but have never left. The major efforts to prevent gun violence in Bermuda will be all for naught if guns are coming in more or less freely.A 72-year-old man claiming to be a Baptist missionary might not fit the profile of a likely gun smuggler. But a better job needs to be done by the police and Customs in ensuring that guns brought into the Island are seized and detained.