This is how you can surrender your legally unwanted firearm to the authorities
Gun Free South Africa (GFSA) says gun owner needs to make licence photocopies of the firearm they wish to have destroyed for their own records.

The only way you can legally sell a gun is to either sell it to a gun dealer or sell it privately, but you may not hand it to a new owner until that person has a licence for the weapon in question.
This is according to the Gauteng Police spokesperson Lieutenant General Mavela Masondo who said a surrendering of a firearm form could be obtained at any police station and must be completed in black ink.
He said the form must be stamped with the official date stamp of the police station. “The police station where the surrendering form is captured must complete Sections A and B of the form. Then, the surrendering person must complete sections C, D, E, and G,” added Masondo.
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He said if an interpreter was used, he or she must also complete Section H of the said form and the police station senior representative must fill in Section I.
“A person is guilty of an offence in terms of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act no.60 of 2000) if he/she provides information that he/she knows is false on the surrendering of firearm item(s) form,” he added.

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According to the Gun Free South Africa (GFSA) website, to have your firearm destroyed, you should take the following steps:
- The gun owner needs to make photocopies of the firearm licence they wish to have destroyed for their records.
- Then go to the nearest police station taking your firearm and original licence with you.
“Complete the SAPS 522 A and SAPS 522 B forms. Both forms can also be downloaded from the www.saps.gov.za website. State that you wish the firearm to be destroyed,” said the website.
You also need to obtain the following from the police officer assisting you:
- A copy of the SAPS forms for your records.
- The police officer’s rank, name and force number.
- A contact number to follow up on the removal of the firearm from your/ licence holder’s name.
- The SAPS 13 reference number for the firearm you have handed in.
- A receipt for the firearm.
“Wait for one month and then confirm with the National Head Office, Statutory Administration that the firearm has been removed from your name in the Central Firearms Register. If the gun has not yet been removed from your name, contact the police officer who helped you in the first place. Please note that the destruction of an individual firearm may take some time because it has to be sent to logistics in Pretoria for melting or cutting into pieces.

“If, after two months, your firearm has still not been removed from your name, you should inform the Station Commissioner or contact GFSA for assistance.
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