More people applying for gun licences
AMID the soaring crime rate, thousands of South Africans are applying for gun licences for self-defence and personal use.
Experts have warned that the illegal firearms trade and smuggling of firearms are contributing to the increased crime in the country, saying police need to have a specialised unit to deal with the scourge.
Police, on the other hand, believe that they are making progress through Operation Shanela, which has seen the arrest of over 4 000 people with illegal firearms to date.
Damian Enslin, the chairperson of the South African Gun Owners’ Association, said between April 1, 2022, and March last year there were approximately 139 451 applications for firearms.
He said illegal firearms were having a negative impact on the economy as they fuelled violent and organised crime.
“All South Africans are affected by violent crime on a daily basis,” he said.
“Firearms are coming into the country through cross-border sources, previous armed Struggle arms caches, the SAPS, the SANDF and organised crime.”
Enslin said to cut down on illegal firearms, corruption within the SAPS also needed to be addressed.
“There also need to be special units established within the SAPS to deal with illegal firearms. Establish proper crime intelligence units, and modernise and update the Central Firearms Control Registry which is part of the SAPS and issues firearm licences.”
Arnold Singh, the general manager of KZN Arms and Ammunition, said there was a drastic increase in people coming in to learn about and understand the safety and use of firearms for personal use, self-defence purposes and sport.
“Pre-July 2021 we had an average of 40 to 50 people per month. Post-July, on average, we had 220 people per month. In 2022, we had an average of 150, and in 2023, as many as 200 people every month.”
He said the general consensus among clients about why they wanted a firearm licence was concern about the spiralling crime, most of which was committed using illegal guns.
“The 2021 unrest was a major factor for people wanting to arm themselves with guns for personal safety.
“Many people are also getting more involved in sport shooting, hence the acquisition of guns for this is necessary.”
Singh said although there had been a constant increase in both men and women being trained over the past three years, in the past year there had been an increase in women going in for firearms training and becoming new firearm owners.
“Illegal firearms have been in circulation for many years due to unsecured
border control of adjoining countries and general theft/robbery of legal firearms.
“Criminals have and are continuing to rob/steal legal firearms from both private citizens and government departments such as the SAPS and SANDF.”
Singh said illegal firearms contributed directly to violent crimes.
“These firearms cannot be easily traced to the perpetrators. Crime negatively affects tourism and investment, foreign and local, in the country, and in addition contributes to the vast majority of people emigrating.”
He said the country needed stricter
border controls.
“We also need to arm more private citizens lawfully and disarm criminals.
“We need tougher sanctions on criminals that are in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
“The government also needs to deploy more police and military for increased visibility and searches.”
Yusuf Abramjee, a crime expert, said there were tens of thousands of illegal firearms in circulation.
“The high level of murder and the violent society we live in are directly linked to the easy availability of illegal weapons. Police must come down hard on those found in possession of illegal weapons and ammunition.”
He said the firearms were often smuggled into the country, and some were stolen from the police and the SANDF.
“We need to also strengthen our laws to ensure that courts come down very hard on those trading and in possession of illegal guns. Many firearms are also stolen from licensed owners and they are used to murder by criminals.”
Mary de Haas, a violence monitor, said there were also a lot of guns that were stolen from the police.
“This is the most disgraceful thing of all because the police are the ones in charge of taking guns in and keeping them, especially when they recover stolen guns. Not nearly enough is being done to deal with the problem and this is having a serious impact on crime.”
Colonel Athlenda Mathe, the national police spokesperson, said the fight against crime was continuous with a focus on serious and violent crime.
“Operation Shanela continues to deal with all types of crimes. To date, 536 980 suspects have been arrested for crimes ranging from murder to rape, assault GBH, and unlawful possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.”
Mathe said through roadblocks, hostel and premises searches as well as tracing operations and high visibility patrols, to date police had arrested 4 075 suspects for illegal possession of firearms.
“During operations, police seized 4 115 handguns, 511 of rifles and 298 shotguns. A total of 80 311 rounds of ammunition have been recovered.”