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SOUTH AFRICA: Firearms amnesty a success, say experts
30 Mar 2005 17:36:20 GMT
Source: IRIN
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JOHANNESBURG, 30 March (IRIN) - South Africa has introduced a firearm amnesty in a bid to reduce gun violence, the single largest cause of violent death in the country.
The government's firearm reprieve, which started on 1 January and ends on 31 March, allows people with illegal guns and ammunition to hand them over to police without being prosecuted for possessing the weapons.
According to a report by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, "deaths from violence accounted for almost half of all injury deaths in South Africa in 2003", in which "firearms remained the single largest cause of [violent] death" in the country.
The study of 25,000 fatal injuries in 2003 showed that alcohol and firearms were a lethal cocktail in South Africa, and "played a part in a large proportion of deaths by transport, violence and suicide".
"Of firearm fatalities, 87 percent were violence-related and 12 percent were suicide. In the sample there were nearly as many firearm deaths as road traffic injuries (6,167 versus 6,324)".
Trevor Bloem, spokesman for the ministry of safety and security, told IRIN that these statistics "show how serious the scourge of guns is".
"I've calculated that about 45 percent of all violent deaths in South Africa can be ascribed to the use of firearms - so we really are faced with a huge proportion of deaths caused through the use of firearms," Bloem pointed out.
The three month amnesty has also prompted legal gun owners to reconsider their need for a firearm. "In terms of the amnesty, 8,474 illegal firearms have been handed in - and we've had 17,317 legal firearms handed in as well," Bloem said.
Police also confiscated 7,983 illegal firearms since the beginning of the year.
"Already we are looking at 33,774 firearms taken out of circulation - their removal should surely have a corresponding effect on violent crime perpetrated with the use of a firearm, and one expects to see a drop in violent crime. But, of course, we'll only know that much, much later," Bloem added.
Crime statistics in South Africa are only released on a yearly basis, he noted.
While some have argued that any number of firearms handed in under the amnesty would barely dent the quantity of illicit weapons in the country, Bloem pointed out that "nobody knows, and nobody can know, how many illegal firearms are in circulation".
"We are happy with the number of firearms handed in under the amnesty - and it's only for three months. Police will also intensify the tracking down of illegal firearms from 1 April - there will be a crackdown after the amnesty expires, and people who did not make use of the amnesty will be very sorry - they will face a jail sentence ... of up to 25 years," Bloem warned.
He noted that "there are critics of the amnesty, and it was not a step taken lightly". Bloem believed the results so far vindicated the decision to declare an amnesty period of three months.
Sarah Meek, head of the arms management programme at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, told IRIN that overall the amnesty appeared to have been a success.
"It's amazing that there were 17,000 people out there who took this as an opportunity to get rid of licensed firearms that were not wanted. It says a lot about the perceptions of South Africans in terms of their safety and security, and how that has changed - people are feeling more confident that the police can protect them, or that the firearm they have is a risk and a cost they do not want," Meek said.
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