10 668 guns handed in

2005-03-02 08:27

Johannesburg - More than 10 000 guns have been handed voluntarily to the police since the start of a gun amnesty on January 1, said the ministry of safety and security on Tuesday.

This included 7 881 licensed firearms and 2 787 unlicensed weapons.

Close to 5 400 rounds of ammunition were also taken from the public.

Minister Charles Nqakula urged the public to hand over their illegal firearms before March 31 in order to avoid prosecution.

Nqakula said after the amnesty the police would start "intensifying their operations in recovering illegal firearms and ammunition wherever they are".

The minister warned: "Institutions and individuals found in possession of such firearms or ammunition would be dealt with harshly in terms of the law."

Normal destruction procedures

The amnesty entailed indemnity against prosecution for possessing firearms and ammunition illegally, but did not absolve anyone from crimes committed with such weapons.

The firearms and ammunition handed in was being processed by designated police officials and disposed of through normal destruction procedures.

He said statistics regarding firearms and ammunition in question were relayed daily to the Central Firearms Registry in Pretoria, where a central database captured, collated and stored this data.

In Johannesburg, 621 firearms have been handed to the police since January.

Inspector Amanda Roestoff said 203 unlicensed firearms and 418 licensed weapons were handed in voluntarily.

Roestoff said the 418 firearms originated from inheritances or belonged to elderly people who no longer wanted to possess them.

Police also confiscated 192 firearms, including ammunition and magazines.

Johannesburg area commissioner Oswald Reddy urged the public to "vigorously address firearms control" in the province.

Those who should hand over their firearms include:

Persons bearing knowledge of whereabouts of illegal firearms, ammunition and firearm parts;

Persons who inherited firearms and who did not apply for a licence, permit or authorisation to legally possess such firearms;

Persons who used to be legally in possession of firearms and sold or passed ownership on to another person, but are still in possession of ammunition or parts of those firearms;

Manufacturers, gunsmiths and dealers who possess surplus, obsolete or redundant ammunition and firearm parts;

Official institutions that are in possession of surplus, redundant and obsolete firearms, ammunition and firearm parts;

Storage facilities such as customs and excise where firearms and or ammunition are stored;

Firearm importers and exporters and

And non-official institutions such as private security companies, private investigators that have surplus, redundant or obsolete firearms and ammunition.

- SAPA