“The right to self defense is inalienable from the right to life. Weaken one and the other is devalued. Surrender your arms today and forfeit your life tomorrow.”
The idiocy I recently came across in this regard really did make my stomach do flip flops and my blood boil. Let me explain why.
During the last quarter of 2021, I did a re-evaluation exercise on my life circumstances, what had changed, what I was most concerned about in the near future, what I wanted to implement to push things forward and then what I would need to do in order to achieve those goals. This spanned multiple aspects of my life and one of the main issues that came up was personal safety.
Let me give you a small glimpse into the crime stats of South Africa. These were released in November 2021 by the "Police Minister" Bheki Cele who in my opinion is nothing more than a publicly paid thug. I'm not the only one, he is known in South Africa as the "TWAT in the HAT". Look it up, I'm not joking.
Take note that these are only statistics on crimes that were either reported by a plaintiff or that were investigated by SAPS (South African Police Services) so these are conservative at best. There have also been allegations in the past of the crime statistics being doctored before being released to the public. I wouldn't be surprised, so either way these should be taken with a heap of salt. There was also a hard lock down and a curfew in place. While this should have decreased the levels of crime due to the restrictions on movement, it looks like certain types of crimes like domestic violence, rape and murder still increased. The reporting period is for July 2021 to September 2021.
Statistics of the most serious crimes:
Murder: A 20.7% increase (6163 people were murdered in South Africa - an average of more than 68 people per day)
1334 of these cases were murdered at the home of either the victim or the perpetrator
Of these people murdered, 23 of them were police officers
Rape: 9556 people were raped (an increase of 7.1%).
Two thirds of these took place at the home of the victim or of the perpetrator.
Assault: 72 762 cases of assault were reported to SAPS over the three month period. More than 13 000 of these cases (Approximately 17,89%) of these were domestic violence related
Kidnapping: Over 2000 cases of kidnappings were reported, most of which were related to highjackings and ransoms. Seven cases were human trafficking cases.
Stats source
So I'm sure you can tell from the figures over three months alone that it pays to be able to defend yourself if you need to. I've been kicking myself for not applying for a fire arm license previously, but the only way I'm going to get one is to do the necessary paperwork and get through the miles of red tape.
I decided to look up the process so that I can at least start preparing myself and getting hold of a training facility in my area.
Wow, they really are pulling out all the stops to try and prevent anyone from being able to legally acquire a firearm for self defense purposes.
The steps in the process are the following:
- Complete Competency Training at a registered and approved training facility
- Receive Competency Certificate from training facility
- Apply for a Competency Certificate from SAPS
- Complete SAPS application to obtain a license to possess a firearm
- Submit application to DFO (Designated local Firearms Officer)
- If your application is successful, you need to install a SABS approved firearms safe at your place of residence (within 14 days of your application being approved)
- Local DFO to inspect your safe prior to you purchasing or taking ownership of a firearm
- Then you buy the firearm and it needs to be shown to the DFO when you apply for the license so he can get the serial numbers etc.
Those steps are all well and good in my mind, but then you get to the intricacies of each...
I don't know when they actually added these clauses, but I really don't think they thought this through very well.
In order to obtain the competency certificate from SAPS, you need the following:
- Two copies of your identity document
- Two colour passport photos
- A copy of your training certificate in with your training results
- Cash for payment – R70 at the time of writing this article
- Two testimonials from friends and/or family
- Competency application form
The police will then interview your friends and/or family to ascertain whether you are competent to own a handgun and register your application with the provincial police headquarters from where it is referred to the Central Firearms Register.
The applicant’s background and possible criminal record will be monitored to ascertain whether he should be allowed to operate a handgun before a panel will approve or deny the application based on information gathered.
I looked into this further and found that they go into even more depths than this. You also need to:
- Be a citizen or permanent resident of South Africa
- Be at least twenty-one years old
- Be a “fit and proper person” for the specific licence
- Be stable and does not have a tendency for violence
- Not have a substance-abuse problem
- Have no conviction within the five years preceding the application for crimes related to violence, dishonesty, recklessness or instability
- Not “become or been declared unfit to possess a firearm” within the five years preceding the application
- Have completed the required tests on understanding the FCA, the training and test for the safe and effective use of a firearm, and all applicable training and tests for the specific licence.
The person must further be –
- In stable mental condition and does not have a propensity for violence
- Has not been served with a protection order or accused of domestic violence
- Has not attempted suicide, suffered, been diagnosed with or treated for depression, behavioural or emotional problems, or had a substance-abuse problem
- Has not been reported to the police or social services for threatening or attempting violence or other conflict anywhere
- That in the two years preceding the application the applicant did not go through a divorce or separation from a partner in which violence was alleged or
- Was fired or laid off from his or her job.
This last part is what really gets to me. A large percentage of people who are generally well-functioning parts of society have been treated for or suffered an emotional upheaval during their life and/or had some form of a depressive period. The other part of this that concerns me is - HOW ARE THE POLICE GETTING ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION? I was under the impression that your medical records are confidential!
Apart from that, the next part is just plain and simply backwards and actually could be life threatening for certain people. Say for example you are in a relationship or marriage with someone, you have children with that person and that person develops a drinking or substance abuse problem and becomes violent. You lay charges against the person, get a restraining order, interdict whatnot to protect yourself and your children from said person after you leave them. You then decide that you want to apply for a handgun license for self defense but because you left the violent person and you laid charges against them which is your absolute right as a victim of violence, you are now DENIED the right to possess a fire arm for self defense not just against said person but against ANYONE who may wish you GBH.
Please tell me in what fucking magical universe this makes any sort of rational sense!
So apart from the rigorous red tape they chuck at you, this in my mind is actually penalizing a victim of violence and removing their right to defend themselves. I mean come on, we're meant to rely on the Police? Ya, I had a break in at my office in 2006 in Muizenberg and I'm still waiting for them to come and take fingerprints, so I'm not holding my breath on that one.
I'm going to start the process but I think it is becoming more and more geared towards dissuading anyone from legally obtaining a fire arm.
I'll let you know what happens as it happens. Will be interesting to see how long this whole process is now.
South Africa might be beautiful, but it's run by a bunch of criminals hell-bent on disarming the populace.
