[Before they round you up to kill you… they take your weapons away… In typical COMMUNIST STYLE… the ANC is taking away our weapons. But what of the MILLIONS of BLACKS running around with ILLEGAL COMMUNIST MILITARY WEAPONS MURDERING WHITE FARMERS, SHOOTING UP CASH-IN-TRANSIT VEHICLES? Blacks own illegal military firearms (AK47’s, etc)… AK47’s are automatic weapons. Normal citizens can’t own such weaponry… But the vast mass of crimes are committed by BLACKS WIELDING AK47’s… NOT by Whites owning legal handguns… So why are they taking OUR WEAPONS AWAY??? Because the Racist blacks want to kill us that’s why!!!

Note: Even though they say blacks will struggle to get firearms, its not the full story. For blacks to buy other illegal weaponry from other blacks in townships is very easy. Whites don’t have access to illegal weapons in the same way blacks do. And, I have it on good authority from a friend of mine in the security industry that for a white person to attempt to get an illegal firearm is extremely dangerous. Because a white wanting such a weapon would stand out like a sore thumb… it is most unlikely you will get it. There is a 99% chance you’ll get caught in a Police sting operation. So desperate whites should not consider illegal weapons as an option. Illegal weapons is a MONOPOLY only blacks have access to. Jan]

Legal gun ownership is slowly being killed off – up to 90 percent of licence applications made this year have been refused.

Gunshop owners in Johannesburg said it is near-impossible for anyone – but particularly black applicants – to obtain a licence. They fear that it may become even more difficult when the new Firearms Control Act comes into operation next week.

Dealers also predict that prospective firearm owners may opt to buy illegal firearms, given the expensive and time-consuming application process, which holds no guarantee of success.

The core of the problem is that the Central Firearms Registry (CFR) has persistently refused to tell dealers and the public what constitutes a proper motivation for a firearm needed for self-defence – the most common reason given for wanting to buy one.

‘We had refusals left, right and centre’
Dealers have no problem with the new law or with its regulations, gunshop owner Paul Bennett said.

“Our problem solely lies in the way it is being applied. We have asked numerous times, and the CFR refuses to tell us what a person has to prove to get a gun licence for self-defence,” Bennett said.

The amount of refusals for gun licences rocketed from 16 percent in 1998 (according to a study by the Institute for Security Studies) to 70 percent last year. And dealers believe that this year’s figures might be as high as 90 percent, with most refusals in Johannesburg being for applications by blacks.

On May 18 and May 20, a number of Johannesburg gun dealers received en masse refusals of gun licences.

“We had refusals left, right and centre. Almost all outstanding applications were simply refused,” Bennett said.

“Lack of motivation” is the main reason why the licence applications of people who want firearms for purposes of self-defence are turned down.

Other reasons include:
For married women: your husband can protect you
For a resident of a crime-ridden area: the police will protect you
For applicants between 22 and 26 years old: you are too young

Apart from their running battle to figure out how a licence is refused for “lack of motivation”, gun dealers said that in some instances the police are now refusing to accept “new” applications.

The argument for this seems to be that by the time the police get around to processing them, they would have to be redone according to new regulations.

But, said Bennett, they know even less about how the new law is going to be applied.

The new Firearms Control Act creates a two-step process for those wishing to apply for a firearm licence.

The first step is to obtain a competency certificate. To do this, you must be 21-years-old or older; pass a background check; have no criminal record for specified crimes; know the law about firearms; and know how to use a firearm. A competency certificate is valid for five years and could take six months to obtain.

However, to get a competency certificate you need to train at an SABS-approved facility. But these standards will come into effect only at the end of July.

Even then, a competency certificate is no guarantee that a licence application will be successful.

The second step to obtaining a licence entails agreeing to background checks. Mental illness, specific previous convictions and violence will disqualify you.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson for Safety and Security Roy Jankielsohn said there are almost no transitional measures in place to ease the new law into operation. He has also queried how the backlog of up to 60 000 applications would be dealt with.

Gun dealers expect the delays will get longer, especially because of a lack of accredited training and shooting range facilities, backlogs, the absence of an appeal board, as well as a general lack of communication from the CFR.

Despite being given a month to do so, the police have also not responded to The Star’s queries on the issue.

Alex Holmes, of the South African Arms and Ammunition Dealers Association, said dealers feared that the red tape involved in obtaining a legal gun might tempt people into getting one illegally.

The most recent study on the issue, by the Institute for Security Studies, showed that a majority of those living in three target communities known for crime and firearm-related problems are in favour of a ban on guns.

However, at the same time, more and more people living in these communities wish to own a firearm, mostly in reaction to living in a crime-ridden society.

The study found that it was easy to get hold of guns, of which a large percentage are probably unlicensed, in these communities.

But does owning a gun protect one from crime?
In 1996, Dr John Lott, of the University of Chicago Law School, published the results of an extremely controversial study analysing FBI information gathered between 1977 and 1992.

He found that in those 15 years, the so-called “right-to-carry” laws in the United States (giving private individuals the right to carry guns for self-defence) had caused a five percent decline in rapes, a seven percent decline in aggravated assaults and an eight percent decline in murder.

While the new Firearms Control Act was being written, this study was slated, especially by Gun Free South Africa.

On Monday, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said the new law would target people who fired their weapons when their lives were not at risk.

That is, gun dealers add, if you can still legally obtain one.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on June 23, 2004

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>