Resident questions firearm licence procedure
A resident says he has struggled to get his firearm back from the local police station.
POLOKWANE – A resident who handed his firearm in to the police during the amnesty period in May says he has since applied and received his firearm licence, but is struggling to get the firearm back from the local police station.
The amnesty period was aimed at giving illegal firearm owners an opportunity to hand in their illegal firearms without facing any criminal charges and a fair chance to apply for the firearm licence.
Police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that if one made an application and it was approved, he or she will get his or her firearm back.
The resident, who wants to remain anonymous, says his application was approved in June and was told that he can collect his firearm, but whenever he visits the station he is told that all the firearms received were stored in the provincial bank and they don’t have a system to locate the firearms.
“I found it shocking that they did not have a system. It seems all the firearms were just dumped in one place and I was told I need to wait until they find it before I fetch it. This is an inconvenience, especially because I did everything that was asked of me. It also raises the question of how do they know the firearms are still there if they can’t be located.”
He says that having to wait is not the problem but rather that he does not know how long he is expected to wait.
Mojapelo says those firearms are safely kept and are not destroyed until the outcome of the applications.
“Due to the number of applications at the head office in Pretoria, it will take a little bit longer for applicants to get them back but they are working an extra mile to ensure their finality.”
He says they received many applications during the amnesty period and all of them are regarded as new applicants for the same firearms they owned.
