Gun law to stem domestic abuse

2002-05-28 15:40

Johannesburg - The new Firearms Control Act (FCA), if implemented properly, would act as a tool for reducing domestic violence, the action group Gun-free South Africa said on Tuesday.

The group held a seminar in Johannesburg to discuss lessons learnt from the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act to ensure that the FCA was implemented effectively.

"While the causes of and the solutions to domestic violence are complex, we believe that the effective implementation of the FCA is an important step in reducing it," said the director of Gun-free South Africa, Adele Kirsten.

Research done by the Gender Unit at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation indicates that more women are being shot during incidents of domestic violence than was the case 10 years ago.

The co-ordinator of the Gender Unit, Lisa Vetten, said the availability of firearms had not increased in the 10-year period over which the study had been conducted over, methods of killing have changed. In the early 90s more women were stabbed to death than in the past two or three years.

She said gun control was important because it should be made as difficult as possible for someone to kill another.

The research also indicated that women had a higher chance of being killed in their own homes by someone they knew - mostly their husbands or boyfriends.

A number of the provisions in the new firearm act would protect women from gun violence.

A person applying for a firearm licence would have to have a competency certificate, amongst other things, and strict conditions for this would apply. New provisions would also exist for having someone declared unfit to hold a firearm licence.

Sections of the Act have already been implemented and the rest should be in place by the end of July.

The Act was passed by parliament in 2000, but several provisions have yet to be promulgated.

The finalisation of the Business Process Re-engineering of the IT system at the Central Firearms Register would only be completed by the end of June.

Certain standards regarding competency testing had not yet been completely finalised, and thus the regulations pertaining to training could not yet be drafted.

Thirdly, the technical specifications for shooting ranges were still outstanding.

- SAPA