Reducing Crime Not Out Of Shot

In South Africa, we have not had a deranged lunatic going on a shooting spree like we often see in countries such as the US. We last saw this kind of incident with right-wing extremist Barend Strydom in November 1988 when he shot dead seven innocent black people in central Pretoria. Be that as it may, gun crime and violence in our country is still at unacceptably high levels and something drastic needs to be done. Though we must commend the government and law enforcers for the reported almost 50 percent decline in the number of gun fatalities since 1998, as many as 18 people a day are reportedly being shot in our country.

We have just lost Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa to gun violence. Reeva Steenkamp succumbed to a bullet fired from her boyfriend's firearm. Four-year-olds, wives, breadwinners, fathers, cops and security personnel, among others, have had their lives cut short because of gun violence. Families have been traumatised while being robbed at gunpoint and so have some of our motorists suffered the same trauma at the hands of gun-wielding hijackers. Indeed, there was once a time when South Africa had the dubious honour of being second to Colombia when it came to firearm-related homicide rates.

In a country where it is estimated there are more than 3.4 million licensed firearms and anything between 500 000 and 4 million illicit guns, is it surprising that we have so much gun violence and crime? The questions have to be raised: are our gun control laws adeqaute and are they being enforced? Where do all these unlicensed firearms come from? Gun Free South Africa says the country has good control laws but they need to be enforced. Also, the loopholes in the application process for a firearm need to be closed.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that proper screening of applicants does not always take place and little attention is given to aspects such as how to handle a gun and how to keep it safe. As a result, we have some licensed gun owners discharging their firearms at inappropriate places or just being plain negligent, with the risk of their firearms landing in the wrong hands or being used by them to accidentally kill or injure. In fact, researchers on the subject of gun ownership and crime tell us legally owned firearms are the worst risk factor for the murder of intimate partners.

But the other problem I suspect we are dealing with in South Africa is that citizens, particularly the relatively well-off, approach the issue of gun ownership as a right not a privilege. My firm belief is that our point of departure on gun ownership should be that there is no good reason why a civilian should have a gun unless extraodinary circumstances can be demonstrated. Then there is the allegation that a great number of illicit firearms in circulation come from outside the country, particularly from neighbouring countries. This raises the issue of controls at our borders.

An influx of weapons from outside the country can seriously compromise internal stability and citizens' sense of security. In this regard, regional efforts to curb the flow of illegal weapons must be doubled. South Africa needs the support of countries in the region, particularly the SADC community. But we must also look at why people feel the need to own a gun, legal or otherwise. Apart from those who acquire a firearm (often illegally) with the clear intention to commit a crime, there are citizens who do so because they feel they have to protect themselves.

That shouldn't be so. Citizens must, in the main, rely on the state to offer them protection. So, in the campaign to reduce the number of firearms in circulation, the state has a critical role to play in decreasing the demand for firearm licences by civilians. How? Make people feel safe and they will see no need to won guns. But that only addresses law-abiding citizens. How do we discourage illegal ownership? Illegal ownership of a gun should on its own carry a severe mandatory sentence. When people know that just possessing an illegal firearm, let alone using it, comes with a stiff jail sentence, we may see a decline in gun violence and crime.

Finally, I'd like to add my voice to the calls being made by the likes of SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan, Orlando Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza and Kaizer Chiefs boss Kaizer Motaung for a Meyiwa gun law that will lead to the imprisonment of those who carry illegal guns. We can eliminate or significantly reduce gun violence and crime in South Africa. What we need is political will and societal resolve.

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