Gun ownership to come under fire in 2015

IN A COUNTRY plagued by violent crime and brutal farm attacks, will disarming the law abiding citizen be a viable and sustainable solution?

In February of 2015, the Portfolio Committee on Police will convene a summit on gun control, with this thought in mind. Committee Chairperson, Mr Francois Beukman, says the committee resolved to convene the summit in order to evaluate the state of gun control in South Africa by receiving input from relevant stakeholders.

After the summit, the Committee will hold public hearings around the country to obtain public input into the Firearms Amendment Act, which is on its proposed legislative programme for 2015.

The outcome of this amendment could bring about damning changes to the constitutional rights of legal gun owners across the land, who rely on their legally obtained and owned firearms to defend the rights and lives of their families and themselves against, often merciless, gun-wielding criminals.

On October 30, 2014, shortly after the shooting of Senzo Meyiwa, Gun Free South Africa congratulated the ANC on their call to strengthen the Firearms Control Act to reduce gun violence in South Africa, welcoming the call to review existing gun control measures with a view to limiting access to guns that end up in the wrong hands and reducing the number of illegal guns on South African streets.

According to Gun Free South Africa, who recently embarked on an advertising campaign with catchphrases like, “If your stolen gun was there, so were you” and “Eighteen South Africans are shot and killed every day. Take responsibility. Hand in your gun,” ridding the country of firearms entirely, by targeting the legal gun owner, will somehow lead to a safer South Africa.

“Considering the latest developments, I find this advertisement to not only be incredibly disingenuous and intellectually dishonest, but also insulting in its hypocrisy.” says outspoken gun owner and member of Gun Owners of South Africa, Gideon Joubert. “How many hundreds or possibly thousands of weapons surrendered to the police by civilians have been used by violent criminals to assist them in robbing, murdering and raping?” Has Gun Free South Africa contributed towards making this happen, with unfounded statistics and misleading slogans, leading gullible citizens like lambs to the slaughter?

In response, a complaint was lodged by the South African Gun-owners’ Association’s (SAGA) interim national council chairman, Stephan Grobler, at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). According to SAGA, the advertisement was misleading in that it implies that the owner of a stolen gun is responsible for any crime committed with it; that it fails to specify whether these gun-related killings were crime-related, suicides or accidents; that the source was not quoted; and that the image of a gun links all firearms to illegal activities.

The ASA ruled in favour of SAGA, as the advertisement was deemed misleading, and ordered GFSA to withdraw the advertisement with immediate effect.

Bearing in mind GFSA’s alleged claim that legal gun owners should be disarmed to rid South Africa of gun related crime, perhaps implying that, if they do, criminals might decide to follow suit and everyone will presumably live happily ever after, is it wise for the public to believe the disingenuous disclosures and unsubstantiated statistics provided, or does GFSA perhaps have a valid point?

Responsible gun owners in Vryheid and across South Africa, who are hesitant to surrender their means of defense against armed attacks, especially in a farming community such as Vryheid and surrounding areas, where Kowie Lombard narrowly escaped with his life after an attack on his farm, Valley View in March; where Gertman Janse Van Rensburg miraculously evaded an attempt on his life at the hands of what may have been the very same gang of thugs responsible for the attack on Mr Lombard and where two other tragic and brutal incidents claimed the lives of Willem Weites in September 2013 and Nico and Marcia Lens in September 2014, can seek safety in numbers by joining associations such as the South African Gunowners’ Association (SAGA), The Hunters’ Confederation of South Africa (CHASA) or Gun Owners of South Africa (GOSA).