Gun licensing

[Stephan van Tonder]

yup we were told the same thing - have to bring your character witness with..

[gyrosa]

Hi all who are in this gun license drama. Spoke to a very good mate of mine a few months back and he is also in the gun handling game as well as assisting with licenses etc.
His words were:- 'The police are so far behind that it is a joke. With the present violent crime rate the we have, we will soon be going to the so called "Castle Law" ie every man's home is his castle and he has the right to defend and protect it"
I must say I agree with that idea. Bear in mind the after 22 April old JZ might not find himself as popular as he would hope for. He had already been trying for the white vote by stating the possibility of the death sentence (God forbid, cause every time you let fly with your catty, you are in deep @#$ as a gun bearing white man).
Definitly do not hand in your weapons at all. They find their way back into the street in criminal hands. You may not destroy them either. Answer - loose the safe with all the weapons in them and repairs the holes in the wall afterwards!!!

[Boet]

This is bullshit. I have a whole damn arsenal. Some I aquired myself, the rest was passed on from my late father and my grandfathers. There is just no way in hell that I am EVER going to hand my weapons in. It WILL just be used later to kill someone else. This exercise just cost me a lot of money, and TIME. This will NOT make South Africa a safer place to live in. The police should rather concentrate on getting all the illegal firearms out of circulation, for those are the ones used for crime. I have recently been offered an AK47 on a streetcorner for R250? This have been spiralling out of all controll. The police have already lost this one. Sad, yes, but unfortunately true.

[kraaines]

NOTE to SELF;

next time waste money on kick@ss Karate/Compound bow/stunngun etc, easier to pass a kidneystone that get a darn gun license

[John Boucher]

Crossbow..... hmmmm, quiet.... no ballistics - effective!

I am deep in the bollie because I had to wait for the divorce to finalise to know what would happen with everything. Clarity now and only now can I do the required. Just going to go through the motions whether they like it or not!

Strange that most gun related crime is committed with unlicensed stuff!

[kleva]

Personal Note: I would prefer to NOT have to own a firearm. But, with the situation in SA many, many, even anti-firearm people have had little choice than to protect themselves, coz nobody (SAP, Armed Response Alarm Companies, etc) is going to do it for you. That is why I own a firearm.

I too have been through the rigmarole, and other than the normal paper delays which are unavoidable, I used a company that got everything smoothed out (ie: ensuring that every little t was crossed and i was dotted), and it was worth every cent. They know their stuff, have the right information and contacts, and it became a doddle to get through the paper process... Just the wait was endless and there is no getting around that...

PM me if you are interested in contacting them, they currently do entire Durban & surrounds, but I am sure they may have expanded or can put you in touch with someone in your area... What harm is a phone call to ask?

PS: Be very careful about destroying your firearm before handing it in, if you decide to go that route! I have heard of a lot of people actually getting into major trouble about that too... If anything, just damage inside barrel and firing pin only, in a manner that can pass as wear and tear. Crushing the firearm yourself and then handing it in brings down a world of trouble (apparently it falls into a similar category of the law as filing off the serial number)...

[Stephan van Tonder]

You Also don't HAVE to hand it in. You can take it to a gunsmith and have him de-activate it. You then keep it with the de-activation certificate and thus at least know it's not going to get put back into circulation illegally - which is what I suspect is going to happen to most of the firearms that are going to be handed in

[Bacardi]

Last Thursday's BEELD had an article which stated that a gunsmith cannot mess up the firearm without a clearance from the Police. This makes a difference.

[Bennie Vorster]

Well I supose all some of us can do now is to join the local shooting club and applay for a NEW gun licens instead of a renewal of an existing licens till end of June for some of the guns that haven't been renewed yet..... if there is a will there is a way... and if they decline we can apeel the decision till our next life time.

[Pumba]

Guys

If you have not gone through the process yet, you have only three options left:

1. Hope for an extension. It is said that for only around 50% of the firearms on register have new licenses been applied for. A number of experts I spoke to do not want to speculate, but generally expect some sort of extension or amnesty. On the other hand, they may just come up with an argument that the public had enough time (4 years) to react, and no extension will be granted. We will have to wait and see.

2. Hand in your firearms to a registered gunsmith or the SAPS for destruction.

3. Have it deactivated. This process is also somewhat cumbersome. You need to apply for permission to have it de-activated at the SAPS. You also need to take in the firearm for a ballistic test and once they (SAPS) give you the approval, you need to take it to a Registered Gunsmith who will deactivate it and give it back to you. The fee should be in the order of R600. You may be prosecuted if you tamper with it yourself, so be careful.

On the 1st of July 2009 you will be in possession of an illegal firearm if you don't do one of the above. You may argue that you will potentially be one of thousands, or millions of people in the same boat. Be careful; the penalties are 25 years or R250,000 for every illegal firearm.

Are they going to be able to hunt down, and prosecute everyone? Surely not. But don't fool yourself, they only have to prosecute and make an example of one person to drive the point home. And; they have your address, so who says it is not going to be you? Much easier that tracking down someone who does not have a fixed address.

Personally, I think the SAPS did a great job of handling all these renewal applications, and do not get the praise or recognition they deserve. The guy you deal with behind the counter is working for peanuts, and gets almost nothing for the long hours they put in. Here in the Vaal Triangle, most stations sayed open into the small hours of the morning of the 1st of April to process everyone. It is the law makers we should vent our dismay at. This new Firearms Act being implemented here was first developed in Canada. After 3 years and $50 billion, the Canadians decided it is too onerous and difficult to implement and thus scrapped it.

Of course, our law makers can see no problem with it, and will implement.

Take care, whatever you do.

Barry

[kleva]

Pumba (Barry) - Brilliant post, information clear and accurate.

Just want to highlight one major issue again, it was stated in my earlier post, and in Pumba (Barry)'s post above, and mentioned in other posts on this topic...

BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU WANT TO DISARM/DESTROY AN EXISTING FIREARM!

For some unknown logic (to me), the law is extremely strict on this and it is treated very seriously. Discuss it with a local friendly Firearm Control Officer, your local reputable range owner, etc. I cannot emphasise this point enough... If not done through correct channels/methods you will be liable for prosecution and they DO prosecute (maybe just cause you easier to catch, but that is irrelavant - why get a criminal record just because you thought you were doing something right!)

[ZS-NEL]

It is somewhat unfair to the okes who's birthdates is Oct - Dec. Every one had a deadline for renewing but at the last cut off date being 1 April was for those with birthdates Oct -Dec. However there was millions in the queu with birthdates from Jan- Sept as this was the last oppertunity to renew?

[John Boucher]

I'm sorted.... yippeee!

[Tumbleweed]

For those of you who like me, have not yet renewed their gun licences, there is an amnesty till the 11th April 2010.

Inquire from a gun shop / shooting range/ police whether there is an agent in your area.

Agent will give you forms to fill in and provide manuals on gun law e.t.c. take home a 50 point questionaire to fill in. Return to an agreed date and write a 20 question test. Bring with copy of ID, 4 ID photos and a brief motivation for wanting to retain your licence ( apparently self-defence is not enough reason, include high risk work environment etc) Take photo of gun safe although the SAP is supposed to physically check.

Need to go to an affiliated shooting range ( agent will go with to verify) and shoot 10 shots in a target from 7 metres.

Your old licence is still active and you can still buy ammo with that licence. Apparently expect proficiency test results within a year and your new licence within 3 years if you're lucky.

R950.00 later

Shoe.

[Wargames]

shoot 10 shots in a target from 7 metres.

Is this only with pistol or revolver?? Or is this true for shotgun license as well?? Or maybe a 30-06 with a 10x40 scope??