SUBMISSION ON THE CURRENT DRAFT OF FIREARMS CONTROL BILL
Hereunder, and where applicable, my comments follow the relevant sections mentioned, and the wording taken from the draft bill is printed in bold Times New Roman font in order to separate it from my comments.
Hereunder FCB means the revised Firearms Control Bill in the form it exists as of the date above.
This submission is comprised of two sections:
1) Section 1. Comment on the purpose of the proposed legislation and the overall effect it may have if enacted.
2) Section 2. Specific recommendations, failings, shortcomings, omission oversights of the document contents.

SECTION 1
1) The existing legislation governing civilian firearm ownership, procurement and usage, including illegal possession, procurement and usage of firearms and ammunition are comprehensive and adequate bar minor modification. A small number of modifications to the existing laws would be more expedient ~ more cost effective than to continue with the FCB.

2) The failing(s) of the existing firearm laws lies almost solely in a failure to effectively implement the these laws, as evidenced by the fact that 0.50% of crime in South Africa is carried out by persons who are licenced firearm owners.

The balance of crime is conducted by persons who are not licenced to possess or use firearms. Thus onerous limitations placed on law abiding firearm owners will have no effect on criminal behaviour.

3) As the FCB will/would be considerably more difficult to implement than the existing laws, the FCB will prove to be
a) Unenforceable as a whole.
b) A burden on our over-committed SAPS personnel.
c) An expending of tax payers money without reduction of violent crime.
d) Ineffective in reducing illegal firearm procurement and usage.

4) The proposed budget of 217 million Rand for the first three years of implementation would be better spent on crime prevention at large, including illegal firearm usage under existing legislation, and/or upliftment of the poor and disadvantaged.

5) The costs involved in sustaining the Registra personnel, its' database and other related administration expenses for every year these proposed laws exist, will be an extremely costly exercise for the State, for our people. These ongoing annual expenses would use funding which would be better spent on direct crime prevention, as opposed to "controlling" the already law abiding citizens of our country

6) A number of existing firearm owners will forfeit their firearms due to the difficulties they will experience in adhering to the FCB certification and licencing requirements (see technical details in Section 2). Yet others will fail to obtain first time self defence firearms for the same reasons. If this does occur, the level of violent crime will increase in this country, as is clearly shown by worldwide statistics.

7) With reference to paragraph 6) above, and all matters mentioned in this submission : The Ministry of Safety and Security, and the Government at large, has not shown or substantiated any possible successful outcome from the enacting of the FCB which would reduce crime.

8) The FCB discriminates against the poor and against the less educated.

9) The FCB discriminates against law abiding firearm owners.

10) The FCB is unconstitutional, and through these failings infringes on numerous rights of my family, myself and every single citizen of this country.

10) The FCB is wide open to abuse, wherein the presumption of guilt can be used by a political party, intelligence organisation, criminal organisation or an individual to have an innocent person or political party member successfully convicted of an offence never committed.

11) The FCB removes my right to evaluate the level of danger in which I live and it removes my right to choose what I consider an appropriate firearm (or firearms) for the defence of myself, my family and any other citizen who falls victim to violent crime.

12) Those citizens, in who's language the FCB has not been published have been discriminated against, as they have been denied the opportunity to evaluate the proposed legislation.

13) The FCB fails to fulfill societies needs in numerous areas, such as the simple need to control vermin, and stock predators otherwise not classifies as vermin.

14) In numerous sections of the FCB, the Minister has the right to change a great many major points of the law to his liking, as long as it "furthers the goal of the act" -by just gazetting any such changes and without approval by Parliament. Such draconian powers are undemocratic and infringe on our citizens rights and freedom.

15) Due to many the excessive requirements of the FCB, of a high level of noncompliance is highly likely

SECTION 2
Please note that this section, namely Section 2, is incomplete and covers the FCB inadequately. This is due to the fact that insufficient time has been made available, from the release of the revised FCB to the cut-off date for submissions, for a comprehensive study of the FCB and for consideration of its' contents.

Point 1. As reference to only being allowed to use a self defence and restricted firearm on an accredited range is made in numerous places, I refer to all such entries: A firearm owner should be allowed to use these "classes" of firearm on rural land which is suitable, such as would be suitable for hunting. A failure to appropriately alter the FCB in this respect will deny persons who reside far from an accredited range any opportunity practice with, and remain competent in the safe handling of their firearms(s).

4. (1) The following firearms and devices are prohibited firearms and may not be possessed or licensed in terms of this Act, except as provided for in sections 20, 22 and 23(1)(b):
(b) any gun, cannon, recoilless gun, mortar, light mortar or launcher manufactured to fire -
(i) a rocket, grenade, self-propelled grenade, bomb, explosive device or device that emits a chemical substance; or
(d) any projectile or rocket manufactured to be discharged from a cannon, recoilless gun or mortar, or rocket launcher, or any substance manufactured to propel or to assist in propelling any such projectile or rocket so discharged, or any grenade, bomb or similar missile, or any frame or body of any such projectile, rocket, grenade, bomb or similar missile;

Paragraph 4. (1)(b)(i) refers to prohibition of "device that emits a chemical substance’’. This renders some non lethal pepper or mace spray carried for self defence illegal per this definition : "1. (e)(xvi) "imitation firearm" means anything that has the appearance of a firearm but is not capable of operating as such;". Modification or removal of these words is essential.

Paragraph 4. (1)(d) should be reworded to clearly to state that a substance used to propel a free standing rocket is excluded from the FCB. A failure to include such, would outlaw the hobby of rocketry, and make the possession of certain types of firework propellant, despite the propellant being within a specific firework and in the original manufacturers state, a prohibited firearm or totally open to interpretation as such, in a court of law. Certain fireworks fire an explosive charge from a tube. These too would become classified as prohibited firearms in terms of the their chemical contents.

12. (2) A competency certificate lapses after two years of its date of issue.
The period of validity of a competency certificate is, if you will excuse the adjective, ridiculously short. One's knowledge of the firearms laws and one's knowledge of the firearm and its' usage would certainly not decrease over two years. While the requirement to pass a competency test and be certificated is sound and essential, this certificate should be remain effective unless revoked.

15(4) A firearm in respect of which a licence has been issued in terms of this section may only be used
(a) for purposes of self-defence;
(b) to practise on premises of an accredited shooting range in accordance with the rules of that shooting range, or in or on any other prescribed place; and
(c) for sporting purposes on premises of an accredited shooting range in accordance with the rules of that shooting range.

This section does not take into account a farmers need to use a self defence shotgun, or handgun, for the purpose of vermin control and the eradication of hunting dogs, and should be appropriately amended.

Licence to possess a restricted firearm for self-defence
16. (3) The Registrar may issue a licence in terms of this section to any natural person who shows that a firearm contemplated in section 15(1) will not provide sufficient protection, and who submits reasonable information to motivate the need for a restricted firearm for self-defence purposes

That the State will decide on the need, or otherwise, for a restricted firearm means that they will also decide on the degree of potential danger an individual is be subject to, or potentially subject to. Such a decision should rest firmly on the individual who seeks a restricted firearm for self protection. That the State might deny me a licence to possess a self loading rifle could result in my being killed, where otherwise a successful self-defence may have taken place. This is especially poignant when considering that violent crime and attacks are almost always carried out by groups of three to five armed criminals, and that Ak47 rifles are not uncommonly used in these attacks. The above section should be reworded such that a restricted firearm licence will be issued, unless obvious reasons negate the usefulness of such a firearm.

Notably, under the existing firearms legislation, over many past years, very few licences for self loading rifles and shotguns have been issued. Before such licences have been issued the following have had to be fulfilled/approved:
1) A full motivation by the applicant.
2) The residential area's Senior Police Officer's approval and motivation.
3) A full criminal background check, with five sets of finger and hand prints required.

16. (5) A firearm in respect of which a licence has been issued in terms of this section may only be used
(a) for purposes of self-defence; and
(b) to practise on premises of an accredited shooting range in accordance with the rules of that shooting range, or in or on any other prescribed place.

Allowance should be made to use a restricted firearm for:
1) Vagrant hunting dogs.
2) Organised packs of hunting dogs.
3) Vermin.
4) Stock predators, otherwise not classifies as vermin.
5) Dangerous animals - under sensible and thus relevant circumstances.

94. (1) The holder of a licence to possess a firearm referred to in Chapter 6 may not possess more than 200 cartridges for each firearm in respect of which a licence has been issued to him or her.

(2) The holder of a licence to possess a firearm may not, during any period of 12 months, purchase more than 2400 cartridges for each firearm in respect of which a licence has been issued to him or her.

(3) The limitation in subsection (2) does not apply t~
(a) a dedicated hunter or dedicated sports person who holds a licence issued in terms of this Act or any other holder of a licence issued in terms of this Act authorised thereto by the Registrar on good cause shown; or
(b) the holder of a licence to possess a firearm issued in terms of this Act in respect of ammunition bought and discharged at an accredited shooting range.

Section 94. Parts copied above requires changes:
Note that many accredited shooting-organisations do not carry more than one or two types of ammunition.

1) An occasional sports person (ie who is not a member of an accredited shootingorganisation) may only practice/compete a few times per year, however they will often fire in excess of two hundreds rounds on a single day, and still require ammunition left over for self defence. The limit to purchase no more than of two hundred rounds (or primers) per month and to posses no more than two hundred rounds is too low.

2) Paragraph 1) above applies to a person who posses a firearm for the purpose of self defence.

3) The criteria on which the Registra should permit purchase and possession of over two hundred rounds of ammunition, per 94.(3)(b), should be more clearly stated, such that no reasonable request by a sports person will be rejected.

CHAPTER 15 - PRESUMPTIONS Presumption of possession of firearm or ammunition
Chapter 15 contravenes the Constitution of South Africa in numerous instances.

No account of what are reasonable steps to avoid "failure to take reasonable steps" has been provided for. This allows subjective judgement of guilt. All such wording should be rewritten to prevent any wrongful conviction.

This chapter also provides opportunity for criminal activity as follows:

1) A political organisation, official intelligence organisation, criminal organisation and an individual can conceal one or more firearms or ammunition on the property of a targeted victim, and thereafter inform the SAPS anonymously of the firearm(s) or ammunition presence. Under Chapter 15, this would result in the person responsible for the property, being successfully prosecuted for a crime they had not committed, as a result the presumption of guilt written into the FCB.

2) Under the laws of the FCB, pertaining to presumption of guilt, were I of criminal intent, I would almost certainly conceal any illegal firearm and ammunition on the property of a neighbour. This is especially easy in a rural environment. Many criminals will realise the "advantage" gained by such action. The discovery of such firearms and/or ammunition would result in the properties "responsible person" being convicted of an offence punishable by a jail term, which he or she never committed.

In addition the criminal case would be closed, leaving the perpetrator of the crime unpursued and unlinked to the crime.

140. (2) On receipt of an application for compensation made in terms of this section, the Registrar must-
(a) decide whether or not compensation is payable in tern's of this Chapter;
(b) if compensation is payable, attempt to agree with the applicant on the amount of compensation to be paid; and
(c) if compensation is payable, but no compensation is agreed upon, determine the amount of compensation to be paid.

(4) On receipt of an appeal lodged in terms of subsection (3) the Appeal Board must-(a) hear the applicant and the Registrar; and
(b) determine the amount of compensation to be paid.

Paragraph 140. (4)(d) renders all the above text of Section 140 immaterial as the State will decide what compensation will be paid, regardless of the value of the licencee's property. In some instances the firearm may be a very valuable collectors piece worth tens of thousands of Rand and in other instances an inherently expensive contemporary firearm.

No consideration is given to the value of and original cost of "accessories", such as magazines and re-loading equipment. Items which would become redundant to the firearm owner such telescopic sights, aim point sights, cleaning equipment and carrying bags are also ignored by the FCB.

144. (1)(a) by notice in the Gazette prohibit or regulate the supply and the transportation of firearms and ammunition, or firearms and ammunition of a particular class within a particular area for a period specified in the notice

A "class" of firearm or ammunition is not specified and is thus open to abuse and/or confusion. Is a class of firearm hand fired or shoulder fired, is it self-loading (pistol) or not (pump action shotgun) and is a revolver classified as self-loading?

101. (6)(a) Despite subsection (5), the head of an Official Institution may authorise an employee to-
(iii) store the firearm at his or her place of residence.

Such authorisation should require that the authorised employee be in possession of approved storage facilities, and fulfill all other requirements of the act in terms of prevention of loss of the firearm.

106. (1) A person must be regarded as being unfit to possess a firearm if convicted of-(b) any crime or offence involving the unlawful use or handling of a firearm,
whether the firearm was used or handled by that person or by another participant in that offence;

While this section has much merit in the form of preventing licencing of firearms to criminals, it is too broad to cover all possible eventualities, and especially implies presumption of guilt, with the supposed knowledge of intent to use a firearm in the commissioning of a crime. This section requires reworking.

123 (8) It is an offence to discharge a firearm, an antique firearm or an airgun in a municipal area or any public place.

This section does not take into account the need to discharge a firearm in self defence and should be reworded.

While euthanasia is considered in the FCB, the Shooting of rabid animals is not necessarily an act of euthanasia.
At no point in the FCB is consideration given to the shooting of:
1) Vagrant hunting dogs.
2) Organised packs of hunting dogs.
3) Vermin.
4) Stock predators, otherwise not classifies as vermin.
5) Dangerous animals - under sensible and thus relevant circumstances.

Such usage of a firearm would necessarily take place outside an accredited range and sometimes within an area wherein the discharge of a firearm and/or the carrying of a firearm is an offence.

123. (9) A person is guilty of an offence if he or she-
(a) fails to lock away his or her firearm or a firearm in his or her possession in a prescribed safe, strong-room or device for the safe-keeping of a firearm when such firearm is not carried on his or her person or is not under his or her direct control; or (b)(iii) keep the keys to such safe, strong-room or device in safe custody.

This section fails to take into account dual or multiple access to a safe or other suitable storage facility for firearms. Two, of a number of possible failings, of this subsection of the FCB follow:

1) Only one spouse is licensed to posses a firearm. The licensed spouse would commit an offence where he or she to allow his or her partner to have any form of key or combination access to the firearm safe. This would, for example, prevent a wife, in circumstances which do occur, from opening the safe and using her husbands firearm in an absolutely desperate attempt to save her life.

2) Where a husband and a wife each possess a firearm, neither may carry a key for the same safe. Were they to do so they would commit offences by allowing illegal access to their firearm by their spouse.

This necessary section requires careful rewording.

127 (1) (d) develop a training curriculum for competency testing in terms of this Act;
(e) conduct research into firearms policies;
(f) monitor the implementation of this Act;
(g) conduct public education programmes concerning the provisions of this Act and all other matters relating to the safe possession and use of firearms; and

To fulfill the above requirements would be an onerus burden on the Registra. The ministry of Safety and Security should carry this responsibility within an alternative department as Registra will experience great difficulty fulfilling the balance of the Act.

127. (7) It is an offence to wilfully point-
(a) any firearm, an antique firearm or an airgun, whether or not it is loaded or capable of being discharged, at any other person; or

This subsection (7)(a) is essentially dangerous to the law abiding citizen and the Police Officer carrying out his duties, as follows:

1) A member of the SAPS and a citizen is prevented from pointing a firearm when making an arrest. Many thousands of instances arise each and every year, wherein a successful arrest can only be carried out by the pointing of a firearm.

2) Of great importance is the fact that the pointing of a firearm is frequently essential in order to avoid the arresting officer or citizen from having insufficient time to avert their own murder in the execution of their duties.

3) If a citizen or Police Officer points a firearm in potentially dangerous circumstances, wherein the crime is prevented by his or her actions, that citizen or officer is open to prosecution by the "would be" criminal, with the crime having been prevented.

This subsection should be reworded to specify that "pointing a firearm" in commissioning a crime, intimidating a person etc is an offence. More specifically the wording should state that pointing a firearm is an offence when it is not essential to effecting an arrest for a serious crime, the prevention of a serious crime or where the arresting person's life could not have been in danger.

128. (2) The central databases referred to in subsection (1) must contain-
(b) all original documentation submitted in support of all applications made in terms of this Act;

The indefinite storage and retrieval of such documentation, even were it converted to digital data, would become unmanageable due to the shear volume involved. Time periods for storage of documentation should be written into the act.

128. (2)(g) the fingerprints which have been submitted for purposes of an application in terms of this Act;

Such finger prints should be destroyed once the firearm is no longer licenced to the individual concerned, providing that no criminal proceedings or investigation are in progress wherein the firearm may have been used.

132 (2) (a) The Minister may at any time withdraw the appointment of a member of the Appeal Board if there is sufficient reason for doing so.
Reasons for such as withdrawal should be specified in this section. Failure to do so could be abused for the purpose of political advantage. Reasons such as incompetence and absence would constitute sound reason for a dismissal.

144. (3) Any firearm or ammunition surrendered in terms of a notice issued under this section must be returned as soon as possible after the state of emergency is lifted or the notice is revoked.
A maximum time period by which surrendered items must be specified, as the wording ‘’as soon as possible" could result in months or years of delay.

145. Despite anything to the contrary in this Act, a firearm may also be used by the holder of a licence to possess that firearm-
(a) to euthanase or slaughter animals in the prescribed manner; and

This section is inadequate. Once again, the following should be accounted for in this section
1) Vagrant hunting dogs.
2) Organised packs of hunting dogs.
3) Vermin.
4) Stock predators, otherwise not classifies as vermin.
5) Dangerous animals - under sensible and thus relevant circumstances.

146. (1) The Registrar may delegate any power conferred on him or her and assign any duty imposed on him or her by or under this Act to any official in the service of the State.

147. For purposes of this Act, the Minister may in writing designate any person or any category of persons employed by the State, as police officials.
These sections should be removed. They allow the Registra to pass the powers of a Police Officer to any State employee, which could include an 18 year clerk. The only persons who should have such powers are members of the SAPS who are trained in criminal and legal matters.

SCHEDULE 2
OFFENCES GIVING RISE TO UNFITNESS ENQUIRY BY COURT (Section 106(3))
2. (e) involving violence or dishonesty; or
Under the FCB, an Unfitness Enquiry should be instituted for such a wide range of offences that should not apply to firearm ownership. The '’dishonesty" is far too broad and far too vague. An example would be when a cash cheque, for even a small amount of money, is Referred to the Drawer. An innocent and yet incorrect assumption that one's salary has been deposited into one's bank account could result in an Unfitness Enquiry. This word should be removed.

All references to "firearm free zones" should be removed as:
1) They infringe on one 5 constitutional rights to freedom of association and to worship.

2) Such zones also make the criminal aware that persons in such zones will be defenceless. This will subject people within firearm free zones higher levels of serious crime than would other wise be the case.

TABLE - PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF LICENCE OR PERMIT

A period for which a license is valid should be scrapped. The maintaining of up-to-date records is amply covered by the FCB's requirements to notify the Registra of any relevant change in personal particulars, such as address.
Were a period of validity for a self defence and for restricted firearm retained, they should be extended.
KEVIN DUFFY