SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Monday 6.30pm
THE government on Monday stood by its decision to draft new legislation that will see nine out of ten licensed firearms outlawed.
Responding to a wave of criticism from gun-owners lobbyists, the Department of Safety and Security said that most illegal guns are lost by or stolen from their legal owners.
“Studies by the illegal firearm investigating units of the police … indicate that most illegal guns, especially handguns, are lost [by] or stolen from private individuals or the state,” the department said.
“It is not possible to make a difference to the availability of illegal guns without strict controls on legal guns and their owners,” the statement said.
“Otherwise police efforts to recover illegal guns will be fruitless because they will simply be replaced.
Police have also concluded that legal gun-owners, who can buy unlimited amounts of ammunition, are the major source of ammunition for criminals.
The department said gun-owner associations are being consulted in this process, and have been asked to comment on the new Firearms and Ammunition Control Bill to replace the existing Arms and Ammunition Act.
“The intention is to ensure that the legislation does not prejudice these interests. It is not the intention to impose unnecessary controls on groups which are not a problem,” the department said.
Earlier on Monday Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad told the Organisation for African Unity summit in Algiers that more than 200 000 unused small arms and light weapons are going to be destroyed as part of the government’s drive to stamp out illegal weapons.
Pahad said the exercise would be carried out over the next few months.