The South African Police Service (SAPS) wishes to remind the public to surrender their illegal and unwanted firearms, firearm parts and / or ammunition without fear of being prosecuted. The deadline for the Firearm Amnesty ends on Sunday, January 31.
With only two weeks left, the SAPS is concerned that since the approval of the second amnesty period, only an additional 23,399 firearms and 119,781 rounds of ammunition were surrendered in the period commencing August 1, 2020, to date. This constitutes a small percentage of unlicensed firearms still in circulation.
Of the firearms surrendered, 3139 were voluntarily handed in by their legal owners, while 20,260 (for which licences have expired) were handed in. Subsequent to this, 23,724 rounds of ammunition were also voluntarily handed over to police, as well as 96,057 rounds of ammunition that were surrendered by owners whose firearm licences had expired.
Members of the public who are in possession of a firearm, firearm parts or ammunition are therefore urged to take advantage of this opportunity by handing in their firearms and ammunition, either for destruction or for re-licensing the specific firearm with a relevant competency at their nearest police station. This applies to estate firearms whose owners have died.
Also read: Colenso police station closes after officers test positive for Covid
In addition, this period affords members of the public the opportunity to surrender firearms whose licences have expired without fear that they will be charged for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm / ammunition.
The current Firearms Amnesty period was approved by the Cabinet last year, after the previous Amnesty period was hindered following the restriction of movement by persons during the country’s lockdown level 4 and 5, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, the SAPS received 46,714 firearms and with the final date around the corner, the police are hopeful that all people in South Africa will use this opportunity to their benefit, as failure to do so will lead to criminal prosecution.
It cannot be emphasised enough that, as of February 1, those who are found in possession of illegal firearms, firearm parts and ammunition will be charged.
Click to receive news links via WhatsApp. Or for the latest news, visit our webpage or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Join us there!
