With at least 31 killed in the U.S. this past weekend 1,300 miles apart, 22 in El Paso, Texas and nine in Dayton, Ohio, in mass shootings, the question is now being brought to the fore again, and that’s – is it time for The Bahamas to issue travel advisories to Bahamians traveling to the U.S.

Opposition Leader Philip Davis said he thinks “any responsible government ought to take note of what is going on in the United States and ought to warn the traveling public as to how they should conduct themselves while traveling in these areas”. 

Mr. Davis made the comment during the Progressive Liberal Party’s monthly press conference yesterday, when asked if he thought the government should issue a travel advisory at this time. 

“In respect to the observations being made, in respect to these mass shootings and those killings we ought to warn our traveling public as to how they ought to be conducting themselves if they find themselves traveling into these areas,” Mr. Davis said.

“Yes, they ought to take note of it.  Yes, they should issue some statement and or some understanding of what the government’s position is because it’s their role to sensitize the Bahamian people as to their safety and what precautions they have to take in the event they are going to be away, in areas where their safety could be jeopardized.”

According to local U.S. media, foreign countries are issuing warnings to their citizens. 

The opposition leader said if the decision were up to him, “an assessment of the shootings would be done to understand the root cause”.

“If they lead to jeopardizing Bahamians, a travel warning would be issued,” he said.

As of July 31, 248 mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. in 2019.  This averages out to 1.2 shootings per day. In these shootings, 979 people were shot and of those people, 246 have died, according to US media reports.