The purpose of the Firearms Control Act (FCA) is to “establish a comprehensive and an effective system of firearms control.” In other words, the FCA aims to create an integrated system which regulates all guns in South Africa, from cradle to grave; including their manufacture, trade, possession, use and destruction. By controlling all these aspects, South Africa’s FCA-informed firearms control management system creates a sealed container in which all guns entering into, being used within and exiting from are documented, to ensure that these activities comply with the law. However, since 2010 a range of incidents have come to light which show that SA’s firearms control management system is not a sealed container. This Briefing:
- Starts by tracing the life-cycle of a gun from manufacture to possession, from use to destruction, as the first step to identifying how breakdowns in the firearms control management system (whether intentional or not) create holes through which guns leak into the illegal pool.
- Identifies high profile incidents to highlight how breakdowns at different stages of a gun’s cradle-to-grave life-cycle facilitate leakage.
- Concludes with three key action steps to close holes in South Africa’s firearms control management system to address the tide of gun violence sweeping across the country: Accurate firearm-related record-keeping by the CFR; systematic gun licence renewals; and comprehensive stockpile management, including regular destructions.
