2004 Volume 4
Unworkable FCA Causes Chaos
By Sherlissa Peters
Mailto:mirror@witness.co.za
Mirror, 9 November 2004
THE now enforced Firearms Control Act continues to have gunowners in a tailspin regarding the new legislation that, in their opinion, ”cannot work”.
Industry experts told the Mirror that not a single legal firearm has been sold in South Africa since July 1 this year.
The Central Firearms Register claims to have processed only eight applications since July, whereas more than 10 000 applications were processed each month before the act came into effect. There is currently a backlog of over 10000 appeals against refusals for gun ownership prior to July 1 but there has been no constituted board to hear appeals since March this year.
Peter Moss, who is the moderator of the South African Firearms’ Forum, feels that what should be happening and what is actually going on with regard to the act are two very different things.
”The entire notion of the act was to make South Africa a safer place but neither the government nor the SAPS can show a single success story as an example,” says Moss.
Moss says he also does not understand why additional competency is required.
”There is no evidence to suggest that legal firearm owners are anything but competent. Firearm owners in South Africa are probably one of the most responsible groups in this country,” he said.
According to Moss, further reasons for it being impossible to obtain a licence is that there is no reporting mechanism between Poslec Seta (Police Private Security, Legal and Correctional Sector Education and Training Authority) and the police services.
”Poslec Seta does not issue certificates and so it is impossible to prove competency to the police,” says Moss.
”There are no accredited organisations beyond those which have been classified as temporary and there is no provision in the act for temporary accreditation. How is this possible?” Moss asks.
An instructor at Poslec Seta, Peter Heitmann, says that the act states that an applicant needs only to do a theoretical test on re-application for a licence.
”This is not good enough for them, as they have no proof of actual proficiency. Therefore, they will not issue the ”qualification” unless they have solid proof of proficiency.
This is why no certificates have been issued yet,” Heitmann says.
’There is no evidence to suggest that legal firearm owners are anything but competent.’
”As an instructor, I personally would not be happy issuing a certificate to someone who I had not seen shoot,” he says.
There is also the problem of the extra cost that firearm owners have to incur. A full competency certificate will cost around R500, or less.
Existing firearm owners who may claim recognition for prior learning and who only have to pass the legislation portion of the test for renewal of licences will have to fork out about R500.
Alex Holmes, chairperson of the South African Arms and Ammunition Dealers Association, said that the new law has had catastrophic consequences for the industry.
”Pretty soon we are all going to be out of jobs. The new legislation has also been putting a lot of pressure on foreign hunters who feel that it is now too difficult to bring weapons into the country. They are treated like criminals and the amount of red tape that they have to wade through just does not seem worth it,” Holmes says.
Angry gun owner Delwyn Pillay, says that he feels that gun owners are being targeted due to a recent study by the Institute for Security Studies of South Africa, which states that South Africa has the highest incidence of gun violence in the world, second only to Colombia.
”We are not the ones who should be given a hard time. This legislation is affecting the wrong people. Legal gun owners in South Africa have always been responsible. It is the criminals that we should be clamping down on,” Pillay says.
He believes there are many technical errors in the act and that it was poorly drafted. ”There was a lack of technical knowledge and consultation with organisations that possess the necessary expertise for something like this. There was no foresight when this new Act was passed,” says Pillay.