S Shabangu: Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2006

5 September 2006

Madam Speaker,
Honourable members of the House:

One of the debates that have been polarised in South Africa is the matter of
gun ownership and the prerequisite to control such possession.

Whatever the arguments are, there are certain truths that should be obvious
to anyone irrespective of the side they occupy in the debate. The first is that
many of our people die from gunshots. Figures of such deaths stand in the
thousands every year. In fact, firearms account for more than 50 percent of
murders in South Africa. It is also a fact that some of the firearms that are
used in the murders and other violent crimes were once upon a time legally
owned but that they slipped from the hands of the legal owners into those of
criminals either because the owners were robbed of or they lost their
firearms.

Every year an average 20 000 legal guns fall into wrong hands and become
illegal in South Africa when the owners lose them. Of course, I am not
suggesting that it is only those guns that constitute the pool of illegal
weapons in circulation in South Africa. There are other sources that feed into
the illegal pool including guns that are smuggled into the country from other
territories.

The link between the easy accessibility of firearms and gun violence and
death has been proved by many studies that have been conducted on the
matter.

Our country is among a number of others internationally that are defining
regulations to impose strict gun control laws as a means to curb gun violence.
In fact firearm regulations are becoming the order of the day rather than
exceptions in many corners of the world, including the African continent.

There are stricter gun laws across the globe than the case is in South
Africa. I suppose this has to do with the fact that ours is a new democracy and
for many decades in the past we were at war with ourselves and firearms had a
place in that war. But the matter of firearms is very complicated and even
older democracies keep on reviewing their laws for better gun control.

Self-contained air cartridge guns were banned as recently as the beginning
of 2004 in the United Kingdom (UK) because such weapons can be easily converted
to shoot live ammunition. Anyone needing to possess such guns needed a licence
to do so. Handguns and revolvers are classified as restricted weapons in
countries like Canada.

The Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation
(SARPCCO) drafted a firearms protocol for Southern African Development
Community (SADC) that was adopted in 2001 by the SADC Heads of State in August
that year. That protocol on firearms raised the following among other
things:

* strengthening national gun control measures
* registering firearms in proper books of account
* collection and destruction of surplus or confiscated firearms
* stricter law enforcement.

South African Police Service (SAPS) chiefs are members of SARPCCO and were
part of the deliberations that produced the draft protocol on firearms.

It is instructive, of course, to understand the feeling of the South Pacific
Chiefs of Police Conference on the matter of gun ownership as enunciated in the
Nadi Legal Framework for a Common Approach to Weapons Control, which was signed
at Nadi, Fiji, on 10 March 2000. They recorded that “the possession and use of
firearms, ammunition and related materials is a privilege that is conditional
on the overriding need to ensure public safety and to improve public safety by
imposing strict controls on the possession and use of firearms, ammunition,
other related materials and prohibited weapons.”

We are also influenced in our approach to gun ownership by the “overriding
need to ensure public safety”. Irresponsible gun ownership does not guarantee
safety at home or in public. Hence the desire for responsible gun ownership. It
goes without saying that illegal guns are a primary target in any programme to
ensure public safety; hence the many raids the police have conducted in the
past looking for and confiscating such illegal weapons.

The Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2006 which we are piloting through this
House today, is a response to the experience many police officials, gun owners
and other stakeholders in the firearms industry have amassed in the context of
the implementation of the Firearms Control Act of 2000.

We initiated consultations with the stakeholders and exercised leniency in
many respects when it was necessary to enforce certain aspects of the law.

That consultation will continue to be a feature of our gun control exercise
and suggestions that are cogent and relevant will always be accommodated in the
work that we do, including any necessary amendments to the law in future.

On behalf of the Minister, the Ministry and SAPS, I would like to register
appreciation to all who participated in the public hearings that were held in
respect of this Bill. We appreciate the role played by parliament in this,
particularly the role played by the relevant parliamentary committees.

Our teams from SAPS and the Ministry that were involved in the drafting of
the Bill, together with personnel from Justice and Constitutional Development,
played a pivotal role in bringing the Bill to parliament. Well done
everybody.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Safety and Security
5 September 2006