How many of you remember a television show of that name?

Because of my age I do and it appeared on British television in the late 1950’s/60’s.

It was a US show and it starred Richard Boone as a man called Paladin.

Its dramatic opening had Paladin aiming his gun and his words directly at the audience, and the series always featured a no-nonsense approach and intelligence rarely evident on the small screen,

Paladin would roll out of bed with a dame in San Francisco’s ritzy Hotel Carlton, go downstairs, and find someone looking for help in the paper. Once they cough up his going rate of $1,000, he’d be off on a mission. Paladin was good with a gun, of course, and he served in the Union Army. But what sets him apart from Marshal Matt Dillon or The Rifleman’s Lucas McCain or even dandy Bret Maverick is his intelligence. Paladin is a sophisticate who likes to quote Shakespeare and others, speaks several languages including rudimentary Mandarin, and appreciates the finest cigars. He’s broken bread with several different Native American tribes, and he’s traveled all over the world to learn about various cultures.

His business card with the words “Have Gun …… Will Travel” also had a knight on it as did Paladin’s holster. Paladin was a knight of the Old West, but also because the knight is the most calculating, unpredictable piece on the chessboard. – From AV Club website.

Strangely I have never seen the series in syndication but this may be because it was in black and white. Not that that stopped “I Love Lucy” re-runs.

So why am I bringing this piece of nostalgia to your attention today?

Because of a conversation I overheard and then got into yesterday (Sunday). Two young ladies, one a teenager, were saying that someone she knew in Barbados had been shot and killed by another teen. The perpetrator had RENTED the gun. That’s when I broke into the conversation.

Guns are rented out?

Apparently this is a common practice and if it is going on in Barbados it must be going on in other Caribbean Islands. The Cayman Islands?

If it is it answers my question where are teens and young adults getting these weapons so easily?

And why haven’t I thought of it before.

In The USA there are companies openly advertising guns for rent. All you have to do is provide them with a valid driving licence and you can hire any gun they have in the shop. No questions asked. When you return the gun you get your licence back.

If you pay a bit more I expect you can even get Paladin.

This is shocking.

Rent a Gun.

PS: Trivia. One of the main writers on “Have Gun … Will Travel” was Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek fame.