Gun owners want justice
Court actions loomMay 14, 2005 Edition 1
By Mbulelo Baloyi and Willem Steenkamp
There is growing anger among gun owners and lobby groups who say new regulations make it virtually impossible for citizens to obtain gun licences.
South African Gun Owners' Association (Sagoa) spokesman Martin Hood said the Safety and Security Ministry must brace itself for a barrage of court actions.
The Freedom Front has also threatened to launch a Constitutional Court action against the government, which they say is systematically disarming law-abiding citizens under the strict new Firearms Control Act.
Hood says he has been inundated with calls from licensed firearm owners about the Firearm Control Act of 2000.
"Every day of the week I field calls from gun owners seeking information on this new Act, particularly around the renewal of licences," said Hood.
He said the government had not adequately disseminated information about the new Act.
"All that the Central Firearms Registry said when it began implementing the new legislation was that licensed firearm owners would be timeously informed when they were due to renew their licences, but to date very few have received those notices," said Hood.
As a result, he said, many affected licensed owners were contemplating using the Promotion of Access to Information Act to force the government to furnish reasons for refusal to grant a firearm licence or to renew it.
"As an association we are all for responsible gun control and ownership, but constitutionally, the process must be fair," said Hood, who is also a lawyer.
He says the new Act is alienating many law-abiding, responsible gun owners who, "out of frustration, will resort to underhand means to get firearms to protect themselves".
This was also said by the Black Gun Owners' Association's chairman Abios Khoele, who said many renewal applicants were becoming frustrated at the prospect that their applications could be rejected.
Selling
"Frustrated gun licence holders who already suspect that their renewals will be refused are trying to get value for their firearms and are resorting to selling them on the black market," said Khoele.
Freedom Front safety and security spokesman Pieter Groenewald accused the government of using strong-arm tactics to expropriate guns.
Because each person may own only a limited number of weapons under the new law, many people have started to hand in surplus guns without receiving compensation. These are destroyed by the police.
"The new gun law creates a direct form of expropriation for some gun owners," said Groenewald.
"The state expropriates property of legal gun owners without compensation. This is a contravention of Section 25 of the constitution."
Groenewald said the Freedom Front was considering having the gun law tested in the Constitutional Court with the aim of forcing the government to compensate gun owners for their losses, or to amend the law.
The SA Gun Owners' Association said only about 100 new licences had been approved since the Act became effective last year.
