The absolute last and final word on the 200 round limit!

[Paul]

OPINION REGARDING THE NUMBER OF CARTRIDGES
A PERSON MAY HAVE IN HIS/HER POSSESSION
IN TERMS OF THE FIREARMS CONTROL ACT 60 OF 2000 (“the Act”)
__________________________________________________ _________________
1 This opinion has been drafted in response to the notion that a dedicated
hunter, dedicated sports person or a professional hunter is only allowed to
possess more than 200 cartridges of ammunition for each firearm in respect
of which he/she holds a licence issued in terms of Section 16 of the Act and
not for any firearms in respect of which he/she holds a licence issued in terms
of other sections of the Act 1.
2 The Act:
2.1 Section 91 of the Act reads:
“91. Restrictions on possession of ammunition
(1) The holder of a licence to possess a firearm referred to in Chapter 6
may not possess more than 200 cartridges for each firearm in respect
of which he or she holds a licence.
(2) The limitation in subsection (1) does not apply to -
(a) a dedicated hunter, dedicated sports person or a
professional hunter who holds a licence issued in terms of
this Act or any other holder of a licence issued in terms of
this Act authorised by the Registrar to possess more than 200
cartridges for a firearm in respect of which he or she holds a
licence on good cause shown; or
(b) the holder of a licence to possess a firearm issued in terms of
this Act in respect of ammunition bought and discharged at an
1 Chapter 6 of the Act includes:
Section 13: Licence to possess firearm for self-defence
Section 15: Licence to possess firearm for occasional hunting and sports-shooting
Section 16: Licence to possess firearm for dedicated hunting and dedicated sports-shooting
Section 16A: Licence to possess firearm for professional hunting
Section 17: Licence to possess firearm in private collection
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accredited shooting range.”
[Own emphasis]
2.2 Section 1 of the Act provides the following definitions:
“dedicated hunter” means a person who actively participates in hunting
activities and who is a member of an accredited hunting association;
“dedicated sports person” means a person who actively participates in
sports-shooting and who is a member of an accredited sports-shooting
organisation;
“professional hunter” means any person who supervises, escorts, offers
to, or agrees to supervise or escort a client, for reward in connection with the
hunting of a wild or exotic animal and who is authorised to do so in terms of
any applicable provincial law;
[Own emphasis]
3 A person obtains the status:
3.1 From the outset, it is undisputably clear that it is a natural person who obtains
the status of dedicated hunter, dedicated sports person or professional
hunter. Neither a firearm nor a licence is a person. Firearms and licences are
lifeless, inanimate objects. Firearms and licences cannot be happy, sad, lazy
or dedicated.
4 “A licence issued in terms of this Act” in Section 91(2)(a) and (b) is not limited
to only licences issued in terms of Section 16 of the Act:
4.1 A basic principle of the interpretation of statutes is that words have their
ordinary meaning. If a section makes perfect sense there is no basis to add
words to, or remove words from, such a section.
4.2 Section 91(2)(a) does NOT state that it applies only to “a licence issued in
terms of section 16 of this Act”. It does not mention any section and it
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specifically does NOT include the words “section 16 of”. “A licence issued in
terms of this Act” includes any licence issued in terms of “this Act”, regardless
of whether it was issued in terms of section 13, 15 or 16. The legislature did
not limit it to a licence issued in terms of one specific section.
4.3 This is confirmed by Section 91(1):
4.3.1 Section 91(1) contains the founding provision and Section 91(2) contains the
exceptions thereto. The founding provision in Section 91(1) clearly refers to “a
licence to possess a firearm referred to in Chapter 6”. This includes ANY
licence referred to in Chapter 6. Chapter 6 includes Sections 13, 15 and 16.
4.3.2 It is wholly contrary to the proper interpretation of statutes to accept that “a
licence” in Section 91(1) includes ANY licence referred to in Chapter 6 of the
Act, but to limit the meaning of “a licence” in Section 91(2) - the exceptions to
Section 91(1) - to ONLY a licence referred to in Section 16 of the Act.
4.4 This is further confirmed by Section 91(2)(b):
4.4.1 Section 91(2)(b) contains the second exception to Section 91(1) and appears
on the same sub-level directly following Section 91(2)(a).
4.4.2 It is wholly contrary to the proper interpretation of statutes to ascribe one
meaning to “a licence issued in terms of this Act” in Section 91(2)(a) and a
different meaning to “a licence ... issued in terms of this Act” in Section
91(2)(b) - the very next subsection.
4.4.3 Section 91(2)(b) provides that the holder of “a licence to possess a firearm
issued in terms of the Act” is not restricted on the number of cartridges he/she
may posses if it is bought and discharged at an accredited shooting range.
4.4.3.1 This means that ANY person, including a person who is NOT a
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dedicated hunter, dedicated sports person or professional hunter, may
possess more than 200 cartridges if that person has “a licence to
possess a firearm issued in terms of the Act” and buys AND
discharges such cartridges AT an accredited shooting range.
4.4.3.2 This makes perfect sense. For example, a person holds only one
licence issued in terms of Chapter 6 of the Act under Section 13 and
he/she is not a dedicated hunter, dedicated sports person or
professional hunter. He/she goes to an accredited shooting range to
practice or to attend a course. Section 91(2)(b) provides that he/she
may buy and discharge more than 200 cartridges at that accredited
shooting range.
5 Dedicated status precedes a licence in terms of Section 16:
5.1 The Central Firearms Registry (“CFR”) requires a person to obtain dedicated
status at an accredited organization and to submit proof of such status
BEFORE a licence is issued to that person in terms of Section 16. This simply
confirms that it is the PERSON who obtains the dedicated status, NOT the
firearm or the licence. This is perfectly in line with the definitions of “dedicated
hunter”, “dedicated sports person” and “professional hunter” in Section 1 of
the Act.
5.2 There is nothing barring a person who holds a licence under Section 13 to
train with such a firearm on an occasional basis. He/she does not require a
licence in terms of Section 15 to do so. There is also nothing barring a person
who holds a licence under Section 13 to train with such a firearm on a
dedicated basis. He/she does not require a licence in terms of Section 16 to
do so.
5.3 If a person holds only one licence and that licence was issued under Section
13, there is nothing barring him/her to obtain and maintain dedicated status.
Page 4 of 5
He/she is not obliged to hold a licence issued in terms of Section 16 in order
to obtain and hold dedicated status.
5.4 A person who holds dedicated status will have exactly the same requirements
for ammunition to train with his/her firearms licenced in terms of Section 13 or
Section 15 as he/she will have in order to train with any firearms licenced in
terms of Section 16. The Act adequately provides for this by allowing the
PERSON with dedicated status to possess more than 200 cartridges for any
firearm licenced under the Act.
6 In summary, dedicated hunters, dedicated sports persons and/or prof essional
hunters are all natural persons. They, as persons, are not restricted to 200
cartridges per firearm for which they hold a licence issued in terms of the Act,
regardless under which section of Chapter 6 of the Act such a licence has
been issued.
ADV GPR VAN ROOYEN
PRETORIA
19 MARCH 2017
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2017_03_19 Opinion re Maximum Cartridges.pdf

[Wanderin' Zero]

"The absolute last and final word on the 200 round limit!"

Not even remotely.

[Gunservant]

"The absolute last and final word on the 200 round limit!"

Not even remotely.

Palpable cynicism makes my day. Thanks WZ

[Paolo]

Thanks Paul.

[Minerva10210]

[The Beast]

Although I do believe that many words will still be said about the 200 round limit. This interpretation is the most in line with how I read the act. It does not add anything that isn't written in the act and also does not use any other meaning of words than the ordinary meaning.

I do believe that the word to use is popular rather than proper in the below quoted paragraphs

"4.3.2 It is wholly contrary to the proper interpretation of statutes to accept that “a
licence” in Section 91(1) includes ANY licence referred to in Chapter 6 of the
Act, but to limit the meaning of “a licence” in Section 91(2) - the exceptions to
Section 91(1) - to ONLY a licence referred to in Section 16 of the Act."

"4.4.2 It is wholly contrary to the proper interpretation of statutes to ascribe one
meaning to “a licence issued in terms of this Act” in Section 91(2)(a) and a
different meaning to “a licence ... issued in terms of this Act” in Section
91(2)(b) - the very next subsection."

[Skaaphaas]

Proper is correct.

[The Beast]

Proper is correct.

Ah I see it now.

[Acajou]

Having a printout of this will probably make a lot of people's lives easier. Thanks Paul

[A-R]

Ah I see it now.

Legalese is a difficult language...