Report: "HOW TO SILENCE THE GUNS? Southern Africa’s illegal firearms markets"

[JhbBoy]

https://globalinitiative.net/analysi...earms-markets/

Download: https://globalinitiative.net/wp-cont...ms-markets.pdf

Southern Africa is awash with illegal firearms fuelling violence, conflict, and organized crime. Guns and ammunition are a currency in an underworld of gangs, hitmen, drug syndicates, extortion, kidnappings, wildlife crime, and bloody turf wars in the informal transport sector.

Rising violent crimes – such as cash-in-transit heists, armed robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations – share one common factor: the ready availability of illegal guns.
Illicit firearms also contribute to political conflict and instability in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. In Mozambique, the availability of illegal firearms has compounded the violence linked to an insurgency in the north of the country, while in South Africa, both legal and illegal firearms played a significant role in the deaths of 330 people during the recent unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal in July 2021.
While the exact figure for the number of illicit firearms in circulation in the SADC region is not readily available, it is estimated that there are about 3.8 million unregistered illegal firearms in circulation in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
Many of these come from civilian gun owners whose firearms have been lost or stolen, but many others come from state institutions. It is not known exactly how many firearms have been lost and stolen from the police, military, and other government departments, and a lack of oversight means that many losses and thefts go unrecorded.
In South Africa, the exact numbers of weapons lost and stolen from government departments and agencies are unknown. There is little public oversight despite the fact that a number of these departments have a poor track record when it comes to monitoring and control over their firearms. Many ignore access to information and even parliamentary requests for data on lost and stolen firearms.
While the South African Police do release some information on firearms lost or stolen each year, they do not release or do not have, figures on firearms missing from police evidence stocks and of firearms earmarked for destruction.
This report is based on extensive research and fieldwork conducted in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The report examines the sources, markets, and types of firearms inflaming conflict and organized crime in the region.

[Karoobow]

https://globalinitiative.net/analysi...earms-markets/

Download: https://globalinitiative.net/wp-cont...ms-markets.pdf

Southern Africa is awash with illegal firearms fuelling violence, conflict, and organized crime. Guns and ammunition are a currency in an underworld of gangs, hitmen, drug syndicates, extortion, kidnappings, wildlife crime, and bloody turf wars in the informal transport sector.

Rising violent crimes – such as cash-in-transit heists, armed robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations – share one common factor: the ready availability of illegal guns.
Illicit firearms also contribute to political conflict and instability in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. In Mozambique, the availability of illegal firearms has compounded the violence linked to an insurgency in the north of the country, while in South Africa, both legal and illegal firearms played a significant role in the deaths of 330 people during the recent unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal in July 2021.
While the exact figure for the number of illicit firearms in circulation in the SADC region is not readily available, it is estimated that there are about 3.8 million unregistered illegal firearms in circulation in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
Many of these come from civilian gun owners whose firearms have been lost or stolen, but many others come from state institutions. It is not known exactly how many firearms have been lost and stolen from the police, military, and other government departments, and a lack of oversight means that many losses and thefts go unrecorded.
In South Africa, the exact numbers of weapons lost and stolen from government departments and agencies are unknown. There is little public oversight despite the fact that a number of these departments have a poor track record when it comes to monitoring and control over their firearms. Many ignore access to information and even parliamentary requests for data on lost and stolen firearms.
While the South African Police do release some information on firearms lost or stolen each year, they do not release or do not have, figures on firearms missing from police evidence stocks and of firearms earmarked for destruction.
This report is based on extensive research and fieldwork conducted in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. The report examines the sources, markets, and types of firearms inflaming conflict and organized crime in the region.

It played a SIGNIFICANT role in the deaths of 330 people.....I fail to be able to comprehend how it played a role when people were trampled to death.....assaulted and afterwards died etc etc etc....

[driepootx]

Is the defence of you lifelong investment in your home an illegal act. Plundering and arson are illegal acts in my perception.

[GORBY]

Reading the full report (81 pages, but there is some pictures as well) it is clear that the "state" is the highest provider of illegal and unregistered firearms. This is mainly for political reasons, lack of controll & oversight and pure incompetence.
Although this report lists legal/registered firearms from individuals falling into hands of criminals as one of the sources for illegal firearms, it is but a tiny proportion of the overall.
This report does not "knock" private firearms ownership, but rather focusses on governments (ZA, ZIM & MOZ) to clean and get their own houses in order (at least that is what I got from it).
A worthwhile read IMHO.

[Yearnslow]

The global media are, generally, anti-gun.
And although there is a real problem here with armed violence, which almost exclusively involves criminal organisations, the media would be more than happy to throw law abiding firearm owning citizens under the bus.
The narrative is all to common these days.
At least this piece actually put SAPS in the frame as one of the main enablers of criminals acquiring firearms, but then again, with a record like theirs, there wasn't really any option.
The breakdown of law and order has serious consequences for everybody, including the idiots that are allowing it to happen, but like everything else, they simply can't see that far ahead.

[Paul]

Jenni is one of the few decent negotiating partners we have ever had in this game.

By "decent" I mean fair and prepared to engage sincerely. Her replacements as Secretary of Police have been awful.

[geopat]

I wonder how many of those 330 people that were killed were shot by private citizens defending themselves and their families from a riotous mob and thus completely justified, civilian firearms without doubt prevented a much worse outcome, the only thing that stops a rioting mob is a person with a gun