Amnesty: 30 000 guns handed in

2005-03-31 20:44

Cape Town - More than 30 000 weapons have been handed in to police during the three-month gun amnesty, boosting hopes that the initiative will help cut the high crime rate.

Trevor Bloem of the safety and security ministry said: "We are happy with the result.

"We are pleased to have any and all weapons in our possession and taken out of circulation."

Since the January 1 start of the amnesty, people have been able to surrender illegal guns - as well as legal ones they no longer need - without fear of prosecution.

After Friday, possession of an unlicensed weapon would result in hefty fines or imprisonment of up to 15 years.

Programme makes SA safer

Bloem said that by Thursday morning, 10 800 unlicensed weapons and 19 688 legal ones had been handed in, and a further 8 400 confiscated at roadblocks and during police searches.

He said authorities were confident the programme would make the country safer.

Judy Bassingthwaite, director of Gun Free South Africa said: "The fewer firearms in the community, the less crime there will be."

South Africa's 43 million people own an estimated 3.7 million licensed guns, and there are said to be many more illegal ones.

Cutting the number of murders

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South Africa had tried desperately to cut the number of murders, rapes, assaults and thefts.

The government insisted it was on course to meet its target of reducing violent crimes by between 7% and 10% a year.

A report issued by the Medical Research Council last week said that violence accounted for almost half of the 25 000 fatal injuries in 2003.

It said that more than 6 000 people died from gunshot wounds - nearly double the number of deaths from stabbing.

It said firearms killed as many people as road accidents.

Alarms, protective metal bars

A separate report from the Institute for Democracy in SA said that last year 19% of people had been attacked themselves or a family member had been and 57% feared crime in their own homes.

Guarded residential compounds, barbed wire, sophisticated alarms and protective metal bars had become a way of life for the wealthy. But, for most, these are unaffordable luxuries.

In addition, the government passed the Firearms Control Act to try to clamp down on crime.

The law, which came into force last year, introduced licensing requirements and checks on gun owners and increased the minimum age to 21 years.

- AP