Important Petition! Dangerous weapons bill

[Gunna]

After that news article I fired off an email to Dianne Kohler Barnard, MP... she responded and said I could share the correspondence... so here goes:

Dear Mr Xxxxxx,

The bill in the original draft last year caused huge public outrage, and neither they nor I will stand for any curtailment of the right to self defence. There is absolutely nothing in the new draft that prevents you carrying any sort of self-defence device whatsoever. However, should you hold a knife in your hand and threaten people, then, and only then, will it be considered to be a dangerous weapon.

I immediately raised the issue of ‘presumption’ – which must be clarified as it’s too vague. The State Law Advisor is now working on rewording this.

The main thrust of this new draft is to prevent people in political gatherings or protests of any sort, from carrying anything that may be a weapon – even a rock or brick. No so-called traditional weapons will be allowed either.

This is a first draft, and we begin public hearings on Tuesday, and only once those are done will we rework the Bill to prevent any unintended consequences.

I hope this eases your fears somewhat, and I’m most sorry to hear that your faith in the DA is, for some reason, diminished.

Best wishes,

Dianne

Dear Mr Xxxxxx,

Please feel free to do so. We had the start of the public hearings yesterday, and virtually every concern was soon dealt with in a positive manner, and indeed a definition by one of the lawyers representing three associations provided the State Law advisors with a better definition than the one they had in the draft Bill.

It’s all progressing smoothly, and the ANC have learned that if they look to taking self-defence mechanisms away from our citizenry, they’ll be inundated with furious responses and utter refusal to abide by any such legislation. I assure you, I was one of them!

All the best,

Dianne

[Gunservant]

OK...respect to Dianne for replying and doing so in a respectful and decent manner. Much better than the response I got from old Robin.

I just hope she (and her party) follows-through and ensures that this Bill is contained within what is constitutional.

[Toxxyc]

TBH threatening a person with a brick also considers it a weapon - what's the use of the bill then?

EDIT: But constructive. Excellent feedback though. Open, honest (debatable, but let's assume it is) and clear. I quite like it. Let's see how this turns out.

[JS4]

There is absolutely nothing in the new draft that prevents you carrying any sort of self-defence device whatsoever. However, should you hold a knife in your hand and threaten people, then, and only then, will it be considered to be a dangerous weapon.

Errrr.... no.

The draft bill says 'possession', not 'in your hand and threatening'.

[Errol500]

Errrr.... no.

The draft bill says 'possession', not 'in your hand and threatening'.

That's what I thought...

[d7e7r7]

Errrr.... no.

The draft bill says 'possession', not 'in your hand and threatening'.

Might be far fetched but how will we build houses then if bricks are not allowed in ones possession?

[Gerhard_vo]

What worries me is still the 'dragging you behind a police van', 'beating you to death in a cell', 'selling guns on the black market' police officials that have to garnish the intelligence to interpret the convoluted Bill in the heat of the moment. (Not saying all cops are bad, but the danger is that one corrupt official that can really ruin your day with it.)