South Africa's licensed gun owners are furious about a new law which could force millions to hand over their weapons -- removing what some consider their only defense against rampant crime.
All legal guns must be re-licensed over a five-year period starting this week and thousands of applications have already been rejected or snagged in red tape.
Critics of the firearms control act say it is an attempt to disarm law-abiding citizens while leaving criminals armed and free to rape, rob and kill.
The government and gun-control activists defend the legislation as urgent and necessary for a country with one of the world's highest rates of gun-related crime.
"Without this, I'm a sitting duck," said Craig Rissik, a Johannesburg taxi driver, who fears that the licence for the revolver he sits on will not be renewed.
Crime has soared over the past decade since the fall of apartheid, and many citizens have bought licensed guns.
There are at least 2.5 million registered owners of up to 4.5 million guns -- more than the army and police combined. In addition, there are thought to be up to 4 million illegal guns, many smuggled from Mozambique after its civil war ended.
A three-month amnesty allowing people to hand in unlicensed guns free from prosecution started this week.
Advertisements abound for pistols, rifles and shotguns. So many people carry weapons that places which ban them -- such as certain retail and leisure outlets -- feel compelled to offer free storage.
The police complain that licensed owners often do not know how to use their guns, or allow them to fall into criminal hands. Many firearms are reported lost or stolen.
The number of recorded murders fell below 20,000 in the year to last March -- the lowest annual figure for a decade -- but at 42.7 per 100,000 people, the rate was still one of the world's highest. Almost half of the deaths were thought to be gun-related.
Recent high-profile cases included a football referee who shot a player during a match and a father who killed his daughter after mistaking her for a thief driving off with the family car.
Under the new gun control legislation, owners are now obliged to re-license. The law automatically denies guns to drug or alcohol abusers, spouse beaters or others inclined to violence or "deviant behavior." It raises the legal age of ownership from 16 to 21 and limits most people to one weapon for self-defense and a maximum of four others for other uses such as hunting.
Each applicant must complete an accredited training course and be cleared by a police background check involving interviews with three acquaintances. They must also install a safe or strongbox for storage and prove to the police that they need a gun.
Owners who now need to re-license fear that the regulations have been deliberately made too rigorous and that they will be rejected and obliged to part with their guns or risk 15 years in jail for illegal possession.
Figures show that in the past six months, 71 percent of those seeking licences for new guns have been rejected, deepening suspicions that the law is designed to disarm most owners.
Most of the rejected applicants are reportedly black, and the Black Gun Owners' Association has given warning that people will resort to buying illegal firearms.
Gun dealers complain that sales have plunged from 15,000 a month to nearly zero and that they have had to refund money to customers whose applications have been rejected or stuck in the bureaucracy.
The government has acknowledged teething problems, but says legitimate applications will succeed. Groups such as Gun Free South Africa have welcomed what they hope will be a new era.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was