Tighter gun control laws can reduce violent crime
STATISTICS produced by the police and mortuary surveillance systems in South Africa have consistently shown that firearms are the most commonly used weapons to commit murder and other violent crimes, such as hijacking and house robberies.
With this in mind, the Civilian Secretariat for Police Services, which serves as the technical advisory agency to the Minister of Police, wants to have the Firearms Control Act amended to introduce more stringent firearm licensing measures.
The proposed amendments seek to reduce the number of new licensed firearms in circulation. If the amendments become law, it will no longer be possible to acquire a firearm licence for self-defence purposes.
South Africa already has relatively strict firearms control legislation. The Firearms Control Act, 2004, replaced the 1968 law, which permitted relatively widespread access to legal firearms. The current act requires firearm licence applicants to undergo detailed background checks and pass a firearm competency test. In addition, only those 21 years or older can apply for a licence. Applications generally have to be accompanied by compelling motivations. The proposed amendments have once again stirred public debate, particularly about whether tighter laws do reduce firearm violence.
The Civilian Secretariat for Police Services has invited public comment on the proposed amendments, and reportedly received more than 100 000 submissions.
Gun Free South Africa argues that the Firearms Act has been a gamechanger for reducing firearm violence in South Africa. It points to the fact that the firearm murder rate declined by 40% between 1998 and 2007.
The last amendments were passed midway, in 2004. Pro-gun groups claim that the firearm law has had a negligible impact on crime in South Africa. Public health studies have suggested that reductions in murders in urban areas, femicide and gunshot injuries in children can be attributed to the Firearms Control Act. Conversely, a report by researchers at the Wits University School of Governance “found no evidence for the causal relation between the act and reduced crime levels”.
There are two aspects of firearms control in South Africa that have often been neglected in this debate.
First, the Firearms Act can only have a direct impact on certain types of firearm violence. Secondly, changes to the law have been one of a number of interconnected measures that the government has pursued to address gun violence since the late 1990s.
The premise underlying most restrictions and controls relating to gun ownership is that some individuals are more prone to violence than others. Throughout the world, many governments use legislation to prohibit those with histories of violence, substance abuse as well as criminal records from acquiring firearm licences.
Studies published in peer-reviewed journals indicate that the introduction of more stringent firearms controls has the potential to bring about a reduction in firearm homicides. A review of 130 studies from 10 countries on the public health impact of firearms control legislation found a link between the “simultaneous implementation of laws targeting multiple firearms restrictions” and reduced gunshot deaths.
South Africa doesn’t have data that definitively determines the impact of the Firearms Control Act on levels of violence. But it’s unlikely that the measures contained in the act would not have resulted in a reduction in gun violence. These include a requirement that the police perform extensive background checks on firearm licence applicants.
This has resulted in thousands of applications being rejected. The act also makes provision for the invalidation of firearm licences if owners have been convicted of violent crime.