Briefing 4 of 2017: Firearms amnesties – The Brazil example
In response to Briefing 3, GFSA was invited to make a presentation on the ten elements of a successful firearms amnesty to the Portfolio Committee of Police on 15 March; at this input Brazil was identified as one of the countries that had been successful in removing hundreds of thousands of guns from circulation through a national buyback programme.
Briefing 4 […]
Briefing 3 of 2017: Firearms amnesties – Ten factors for success
Briefing 3 responds to a 1 March cabinet briefing at which the Minister of Police announced his intention to declare a six-month national firearms amnesty under the Firearms Control Act (FCA). His announcement follows a groundswell of calls for action (including appeals for an amnesty) to stop rising levels of gun violence in South Africa dating from October 2014 when […]
Briefing 2 of 2017: Crime – The reality, the fear and the response
Briefing 2 analyses three important sources of information on crime in South Africa that were released in February [Quarterly crime statistics, the most recent Victims of Crime Survey (VOCS) and the 2017-18 Budget] to better understand how the reality and perception of crime contribute to a domestic firearms race, which is fuelling gun ownership and gun violence. In sum, quarterly […]
Briefing 1 of 2017: Strong gun laws save lives; poor enforcement kills, disables and costs
As South Africa prepares for the 2017 budget speech, this first briefing of the year focuses on the costs of gun violence, showing that while strong gun laws save lives; poor enforcement kills, disables and costs.
The starting point is evidence that South Africa’s Firearms Control Act (2000) has not been properly enforced since 2011. Against this backdrop, this Briefing tracks […]
Anniversary of Senzo Meyiwa’s murder falls within International Disarmament Week: Take action to stop gun violence
In the 12 months since Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead, 6,500 other South Africans have been shot and killed, the majority of whom are young men like Meyiwa; yet no concrete steps have been taken to prevent gun violence despite unprecedented calls for government action. STATEMENT: Anniversary of Senzo Meyiwa’s murder falls within International Disarmament Week: Take action […]
Corruption in firearms industry makes us all a target: Fraudulent issuing of firearms proficiency certificates underscores the risk of a gun in the home as legal gun owners may not have the necessary knowledge and skills to responsibly own a firearm
As part of the #GunFreeValentine campaign; Gun Free SA and Sonke Gender Justice call for an immediate investigation into the firearms industry after the latest media exposé filmed the Secretary of the South African Professional Firearms Trainers Council selling a fraudulent firearms proficiency certificate to a journalist. STATEMENT: Corruption in firearms industry makes us all a target
If your partner owns a gun, you could be the next target
Gun Free SA, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Sonke Gender Justice today launched the #GunFreeValentine campaign to highlight that women in South Africa are more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than by a stranger, with firearms in the home posing a specific risk. STATEMENT: If your partner owns a gun, you could be […]
Stop police using R-5 massacre rifles
As the South African Police Service celebrates its 20th anniversary in Kabokweni, Mpumalanga today, social justice activist organisation Amandla.Mobi and Gun Free SA have partnered on a campaign to ban R-5 rifles in public order policing.STATEMENT: Stop police using R5 massacre rifles
Research shows South Africa’s gun law has saved lives, made country safer
Evidence that South Africa’s Firearms Control Act (2000) has saved thousands of lives and made South Africa safer was publicised at a seminar hosted in partnership with the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum and the Institute for Security Studies. The research presented by Dr Richard Matzopoulos and Professor Naeemah Abrahams shows that over 4,500 lives were saved from gun violence […]
Guns fuel violent crime: Gun Free SA’s response to 2014-15 crime stats
Corruption in the firearms control management system is driving South Africa’s year-on-year increase in violent crime. Firearm-related fraud and corruption has channelled guns into the wrong hands, which is fuelling violent crime in South Africa, as the latest crime statistics released today show. Annual police statistics reveal that violent crime has steadily increased since 2012, with the 2014/15 police stats […]
