Number of illegal guns on the rise

[wrm]

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-cour...6#.VQkkXsnU0fw


Number of illegal guns on the rise
March 17 2015 at 12:40pm

By Carlo Petersen

Cape Town - Up to 30 illegal firearms get confiscated every month during flare-ups of gang violence in certain areas on the Cape Flats, police say.

Reliable police sources in two of the worst communities racked by gang wars, Manenberg and Hanover Park, told the Cape Times on Monday that during a spate of gang violence in those areas during November, more than 60 illegal firearms were confiscated.

In gang-infested neighbourhoods, at least one gun is seized every day, police said. “It’s difficult to control. There has always been availability and the criminals easily obtain guns due to a number of reasons.

“There’s theft, robbery and maladministration in government, where officials don’t look after firearms properly, or cannot account for confiscated firearms that are lost to criminals when they are to be melted or destroyed.

“Government bodies possess a huge amount of firearms. The SANDF and police stations are becoming one-stop crime shops,” said a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

However, while the SA Gun Owners’ Association (Saga) feels guns in good hands could curb crime, Gun Free SA (GFSA) believes tighter gun control laws are the best way forward.

GFSA spokeswoman Claire Taylor said: “With the high number of guns lost and stolen, particularly by and from civilians, one obvious way of reducing the diversion of legal guns to the illegal pool is to strictly regulate the gun licensing process, thus ensuring only responsible people are granted firearm licences.”

Saga spokesman John Welch said recent proposed amendments to the Firearms Control Act have caused quite an uproar among many firearm owners.

“Saga promotes the lawful, safe and responsible possession and use of firearms by people who are competent to possess them.

“Unfortunately, many of the proposals in the Amendment Bill will place a heavy burden on law-abiding firearm owners without really having an effect on crime.

“In fact, the opposite may be true - some firearm owners might find the new provisions impractical and financially too cumbersome, and then decide to rather not comply, hence becoming criminal,” he said.

According to the GFSA, in the last year, a total of 12 373 guns were reported by civilians as having been lost or stolen, which is an average of 34 guns a day. Taylor said 343 174 firearms have been reported lost or stolen by the police and civilians since 1994.

“This is an average of over 19 000 guns each year or 52 guns every day,” she said.

Taylor also revealed that about 12 times as many guns are lost by or stolen from civilians than police officers.

“The police reported the loss or theft of an average of just over 2 000 firearms each year or six guns a day.”

Cape Times

[Blunderbuss]

Love the GFSA maths.
ave 34 guns per day from civilians
ave 6 per day from police
yet ave 52 per day in total

[Gunservant]

So.....who is going to write a letter to the Cape Times, or is it going to be the usual suspects only?

[prepare2win]

civilians lose 34 guns a day. police lose 6 guns a day. civilians lose 12 times more guns than police. someone needs to go back to primary school and repeat math.

and if civilians lose 34 guns a day (nationwide presumably) and police recover around 30 a day in the cape flats alone, surely the amount of illegal guns out there is dwindling?

[Dylanm]

Claire, you chop. Where are you getting these numbers? Ban crowbars and screwdrivers and the bastards will stop pulling legal gun owners' safes out of their walls.

[Wanderin' Zero]

GFSA spokeswoman Claire Taylor said: “With the high number of guns lost and stolen, particularly by and from civilians, one obvious way of reducing the diversion of legal guns to the illegal pool is to strictly regulate the gun licensing process, thus ensuring only responsible people are granted firearm licences.”

Yet no data is quoted as to the number of successful convictions for negligent losses of firearms.

[Optimistix]

So.....who is going to write a letter to the Cape Times, or is it going to be the usual suspects only?

Please send me the address and I will also submit something ... I have already commented on the electronic version.

[John Reid]

There is also a big difference between illegal gun possession being on the rise, and illegal gun recovery rising.
The article's heading is wildly misleading, since nothing in it proves that more illegal guns are in the hands of criminals or anyone else for that matter. In fact, it proves the opposite. Sixty guns were recovered, so there are sixty fewer guns out there.

As a little aside, these gangs usually stockpile weapons, they don't go out to steal a weapon each time they need one, they have one already, and can get 10 more at a moment's notice if they want. They ALREADY have them, so finding sixty, doesn't mean the amount they have increased by sixty.

[Armed1]

Get rid of criminals by ousting them out of SA into a place where they cannot escape and re-enter society. Something like an island, either fit them with explosive devices that explode when they leave the area or have patrol boats in place to terminate them if they try to leave. In this way you purge society from criminals and deter possible criminals. This pussy way of putting some criminals in jail where they escape back into society or are released back into society is useless. BAN THEM!

[DaavG]

Where does the civilian statistic or fact come from?