Under the Power of the Gun
IN JANUARY THIS year, Mail & Guardian published a report titled “Under the Power of the Gun”. The author, Catherine Sofianos, details the life of a gangster called ‘Fabian’ from the Cape Flats, who allegedly became a ‘hit man’ at the age of 11.
According to the report, a survey by the Canon Collins Educational and Legal Assistance Trust found that about 54% of boys and girls between 11 and 13 years of age in Hanover Park (Cape Town) admitted to having carried a knife or gun in the previous four weeks. This behaviour presumably started through witnessing acts of violence.
The global average for child death through injury is 8.8 in 100 000. The Western Cape’s Department of Social Development estimates the rate in South Africa to be 39.8, with the majority of deaths being young men, aged 13 to 17, living on the Cape Flats. They die as a result of gang violence or interpersonal conflict with peers.
Fabian received basic handgun instructions from an uncle who showed him how to cock the weapon, take out the magazine and how to hold the gun. However, he’s the exception. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime is quoted: “They’re given guns from a very young age... not trained on how to use them properly. They hold firearms the way you see it in the movies, and that affects the trajectory of the bullet. It’s part of the reason so many bullets go astray and why there’s so much collateral damage.”
The report makes for interesting reading, giving a shocking account of life in a world filled with gangsters and crime, where life is cheap, while honesty and staying on the right side of the law means poverty and victimization, and where ‘easy money’ can be earned by joining a gang. It gives a glimpse into a life most of us will hopefully never experience and highlights lessons we can learn.
As legal firearm owners, we need first to ensure that our weapons never fall into the hands of criminals. Of course, this will not stem the flood of illegal weapons being sold for criminal gain, but I’d rather my firearms not be used in a future crime which might cost the life of an innocent. So, if the firearm is not under your direct control, lock it up in a safe at all times.
Secondly, train with that handgun. I regularly meet handgun owners who have done only the competency training, and are now carrying their handguns daily, satisfied that they are ready for a deadly force encounter. Competency training is not nearly enough to prepare you to use a handgun to defend life and limb. It will take thousands of rounds, and shooting on a regular basis, to attain just a basic proficiency to be able to execute a life-saving drill when your body is flooded with adrenaline. Neglecting to train will pretty much result in an outcome as described above, where “many bullets go astray… (and) there’s… collateral damage”.
Too many owners of self-defence weapons think that watching a Youtube video on defence drills somehow prepare us for a high-stress deadly encounter. Watching a video has its advantages, but I’m sure the ‘gangsters’ do the same. We need an edge over our adversaries, which we can attain only through regular live-fire practice, preferably under stress. This can be as simple as using a timer on the range, but better still, do a proper handgun training course and frequently repeat what you’ve learned.
Gun owners often fail to properly maintain daily carry-guns or to use proven and reliable defence ammunition. In my part of the woods serious crime is not much of a problem. We sometimes have burglaries in the area, but overall, we are blessed with a peaceful existence. However, this week an elderly couple was attacked, overpowered and a brick used (among other weapons) to inflict some serious injuries. They were then robbed. The local neighbourhood-watch did a good job in helping to apprehend some of the criminals. Afterwards some of those involved were taking a long hard look at their hardware. I noted severe rust on some of the pistols carried against sweaty hips for months on end, and cast lead bullets that were pushed into service as first-line fodder. This is simply not good enough. Owning a defence weapon means we must properly maintain our handgun and ensure that it always functions reliably with a proven defence round.
I recently suffered a perplexing malfunction on the range. My ultrareliable CZ 75 refused to feed a round. The cartridge got stuck, bullet up, with the slide unable to return to battery. I performed the mandatory ‘tap and rack’, only to encounter the same problem. Taking the ‘well maintained’ pistol apart I noticed that the firing pin was stuck in the forward position, protruding through the bolt face, causing the rim of the case to hook underneath the firing pin. Although I clean the pistol often, I have never cleaned the firing pin assembly. Powder residue from thousands of rounds had finally rendered the pistol useless. A proper cleaning resolved the problem, but what if the malfunction was to occur during a serious incident? Drawing the pistol to protect myself or someone else would have been almost certain suicide.
The insight into criminal life provided by Mail & Guardian reveals that criminals might not necessarily be crack shots, but they live and ‘work’ under stressful conditions. To confront an armed, drugged-up criminal intent on robbing or killing, we must learn to make informed, logical and responsible decisions… and keep training.