The Police Ministry continues to note with interest the public debate around the proposed amendments to the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2021.
Since the Bill was published in the Gazette for comments on Friday 21 May 2021, over 100 thousand written submissions have been received.
The Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2021 replaces the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2015 that was submitted to Cabinet in February 2015.
The comments received by and large oppose the repeal of the provisions pertaining to Self-defence, the collectors of firearms and ammunition, private collectors, the reloading of ammunition, the restrictions on the number of firearms and ammunition that sport shooters and hunters may possess and the reduction in the licensing period.
On Monday, 28 June 2021, the Minister of police General Bheki Cele extended the legislative process that seeks to mold the Firearms Control Bill through public participation for 21 working days.
This period will commence from 05 July 2021 and end on the 2nd August 2021.
This decision follows the Civilian Secretariat Police Service (CSPS) receiving a number of requests for information with particular interest in the Witwatersrand School of Governance, 2015 and the Firearms Committee 2016 Research reports, which formed the basis of the amendments.
In the spirit of fairness and transparency, a decision was taken to make these Research reports available and afford all members of the public an opportunity to have proper insight into the reports and provide informed comments when contributing to the strengthening of the Bill.
It is prudent to note that these research reports were not the only source of information, which informed the provisions of the amendments, but consideration of Policy decisions and crime statistics were utilised as well.
The Police Ministry is once again urging South Africans to make their input to the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, 2021 which can be accessed on the Civilian Secretariat for the Police’s website www.policesecretariat.gov.za
The Bill is open for public comment until the 2nd of August 2021.
