Concourt ruling aftermath: have you surrendered your illegal firearm?

If you have been affected by Thursday’s Constitutional Court ruling on the illegality of firearms that have not been renewed on time, you are not alone.

The judgement overturned a High Court decision in terms of which sections 24 and 28 of the Firearms Control Act were found unconstitutional.

Section 24 deals with the renewal of firearm licences and stipulated that renewals must be done within 90 days.

Section 28 states that firearms of which the licences were cancelled must be forfeited to the state within 60 days.

Five days ago both sections were declared constitutional and legal.

According to Netwerk24, firearm owners whose possessions were declared illegal have been running into difficulties when trying to follow the legal route of addressing the situation.

One man from Tshwane was reportedly shown the door when he tried to hand in his weapon.

National police spokesman Brig Vishnu Naidoo has indicated that those who fail to hand in unlicensed weapons will face the force of the law.

The SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association’s Fred Camphor urged law-abiding citizens to comply with the court order.

“SA Hunters is still considering the full impact of the judgement and other options to resolve the matter.

“The highest court in the country has spoken. We will probably engage with the Minister and the authorities to discuss a pragmatic approach and to resolve the ongoing problems going forward,” he said.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram