Goodbye to your gun

A new draft Bill will make it near impossible for South Africans to own a gun. When buying a new firearm or renewing a licence, the Bill states self-defence and the protection of property or another person are not valid reasons to own a gun.

A2017 version of the draft Firearms Control Act will, if passed, make it a lot more difficult to buy a firearm, or even renew a gun licence. It states gun owners must provide a valid reason for owning a firearm – and self-defence, the protection of your property or the protection of another person, is not a valid reason.

It also aims to convert “green” lifetime firearm licences to a white licence that expires every five years.

Police Minister Bheki Cele’s office would not confirm or deny the existence of the draft Bill and referred The Citizen to the South African Police Service, which has not responded.

The Bill, released by Gun Owners South Africa (Gosa), follows a Constitutional Court finding in June that stated gun ownership was not a fundamental right under the Bill of Rights. “It is a privilege regulated by law, under the Firearms Control Act,” Justice Johan Froneman wrote at the time.

The Bill seeks to insert a new section “that provides that an applicant must provide to the satisfaction of the registrar a valid reason for requiring a firearm licence, failing which a firearm licence may not be issued”. Self-defence, the protection of another person or property – other than circumstances set out in chapter six of the Act – does not constitute a valid reason.

According to the Firearms Act on the Saps website, chapter six deals with the “import, export and carriage in-transit of firearms and ammunition”.

Clause 15 of the new Bill seeks to repeal sections 13 and 14 of the Act, the consequence of which is “the registrar may not issue a licence to any natural person who needs a firearm for self-defence”.

Paul Oxley of Gosa said this was an infringement on South Africans’ right to life. “You will need a medical certificate to apply, which is a breach of your constitutional rights to privacy.

“Our major concern is the right to life of law-abiding citizens. Crime is escalating at an alarming rate. Criminals are becoming increasingly violent,” Oxley said.

“Taking away a means to defend oneself will see an increase in violent crimes against all South Africans. This cannot be allowed.”

Professional Hunters Associa- tion of SA’s Dries van Coller said they will “verify the authenticity of the document but if it is a true reflection, it will affect the whole hunting and firearms fraternity.

“The limitations are very restrictive and not conducive to doing any type of business.”

A “conservative” estimate of the value of the hunting industry was about R2.2 billion to the fiscus, Van Coller said.

“The logic behind this cannot be understood. We will oppose it in the public participation rounds when the Bill is made public.”

Gosa’s media liaison, Tim Flack, said under the new Bill, current gun owners will have to hand in their guns, “which will create a massive administration burden and the risk of firearms being stolen from the police stations”.

In October 2017, an article in Paratus stated “from 2005 to 2011 the Saps lost 18 196 firearms, or 3 030 per year. AfriForum’s newer stats claim the Saps lost 7 892 between 2009 and 2014, which averages 1 578 per annum. –

Saps lose up to 8.3 times as many firearms as civilians do