Minors often targets of firearms abuse
They have dreadful effect on society; UN declares Gun Destruction Day
THE proliferation of guns on the streets of the Western Cape has a devastating effect on the people of the province, especially children. Gun Free South Africa said they are calling for stricter gun regulations to restrict the number of guns in circulation. Adele Kirsten of the organisation said the UN had a special Gun Destruction Day this week to focus worldwide awareness about the threat posed by guns on societies.
Kirsten said on average the police in South Africa destroy about 70 600 guns a year and over 1.2 million had been destroyed since 2000.
“Through this initiative the police gain the confidence of the public as they are doing it in public and survivors of gun violence also get involved.The initiative has been fruitful as it is practical because when the guns are destroyed they decrease the number and never go back into circulation.”
Kirsten said they were also calling for a probe in the Western Cape as guns had overtaken knives as the leading murder weapon.
“One of the reasons that could have contributed to the epidemic of gun violence in the Western Cape could be the 2016 case of ex-SAPS colonel Christiaan Prinsloo, who was sentenced to 18 years for selling 2 400 guns earmarked for destruction to Western Cape gangsters.
“This made people not trust the government and police,” Kirsten said.
Ballistic testing linked 888 of Prinsloo’s guns to 1 066 murders in the Western Cape. Of these victims, 261 were children (between the ages of 1 and 18). Of the 2 400 guns that Prinsloo admitted to stealing as part of his plea-bargain, more than 1 100 have not been recovered.
Professor Sebastian van As of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital said that over the past two years stray bullets had taken a high toll on Cape Town children.
“We have seen an increase in our hospital and others such as Groote Schuur of children being shot and it is concerning. Guns have a devastating effect on our society as they are also abused by legal owners.”
Van As, a surgeon, has been head of the hospital’s Paediatric Trauma Unit for 17 years. He said they did research and found that 90% of children feel unsafe, suffer from stress and anxiety in their communities. “Children are disproportionately affected by guns because they’re always innocent. It affects them physically and psychologically and it is not fair. They are not the ones who are shooting, they are the ones being shot. They are being hit by stray bullets.”
Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said police have seized approximately 58 illegal firearms so far this year in the Western Cape.
A spokesperson for the South African Gun Owners’ Association, John Welch, said it was a concern that illegal firearms affected law-abiding citizens.
“Citizens’ rights are usually first to be affected since the government easily speaks about firearm owners without distinguishing between those who possess legally and those illegally. The government is constantly in denial.”