Firearms regulation in South Africa
In South Africa, owning a gun is conditional on a competency test and several other factors, including background checking and licensing of the weapon by the police. This was introduced in 2004. This legislation has been the cause of much discontent among advocates of gun ownership, as all current (approximately 1.8 million) firearms owners are required to re-register their firearms. The South African Police have been criticized for being unable to process renewals in a timely fashion, and for denying renewals and particularly new licenses on apparently arbitrary grounds.
Very few new licenses have been granted since the introduction of this legislation, leading to the common view among firearms owners that the Firearms Control Act is a tool to legalise the disarmament of law-abiding citizens. The application process also takes a varying but excessive amount of time, commonly between eight and fourteen months.
It should be noted that South Africa has one of the highest crime, and particularly violent crime, rates in the world. According to statistics from the BBC, 12,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 1998. This accounts for around 25% of deaths by unnatural causes [1].
Notes
- ^ BBC News - SA gun deaths rise (BBC article from February 2000)
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