A National Firearms Amnesty period was announced on Wednesday by the National Minister of Police‚ Nathi Nhleko‚ during a Portfolio Committee meeting in Parliament.
The Firearm Amnesty period will run from 1 April 2017 to 30 September 2017.
“(This) is a great opportunity to reduce the number of illegal firearms in circulation and to prevent unnecessary deaths at the hands of those who should not be able to have a weapon in the first place‚ or who do not comply with the prescripts of owning a firearm‚” said Dan Plato‚ Western Cape Minister of Community Safety.
“The Amnesty period is a necessary step in the right direction towards reducing the proliferation of gun-related crime in the country‚” he said.
Plato said‚ however‚ that people need to be assured about the operational readiness of the police to effectively manage a firearm amnesty.
Key to the operational implementation of the amnesty period is to ensure that weapons and ammunition handed over are traceable‚ disabled and prevented from being used again or finding their way back into criminal hands‚ he said in a statement.
He urged police to communicate with the public on the various locations‚ operations and campaign drives to allow people to hand over their weapons; process of disabling the weapons on site without compromising forensic firearm investigation and cataloguing; and time frame for ultimately destroying the weapons and ammunition to prevent loss‚ theft or corruption peddling weapons back into communities.
'Turn in your guns' - Firearms amnesty announced by Police Minister
A National Firearms Amnesty period was announced on Wednesday by the National Minister of Police‚ Nathi Nhleko‚ during a Portfolio Committee meeting in Parliament.
The Firearm Amnesty period will run from 1 April 2017 to 30 September 2017.
“(This) is a great opportunity to reduce the number of illegal firearms in circulation and to prevent unnecessary deaths at the hands of those who should not be able to have a weapon in the first place‚ or who do not comply with the prescripts of owning a firearm‚” said Dan Plato‚ Western Cape Minister of Community Safety.
“The Amnesty period is a necessary step in the right direction towards reducing the proliferation of gun-related crime in the country‚” he said.
Plato said‚ however‚ that people need to be assured about the operational readiness of the police to effectively manage a firearm amnesty.
Key to the operational implementation of the amnesty period is to ensure that weapons and ammunition handed over are traceable‚ disabled and prevented from being used again or finding their way back into criminal hands‚ he said in a statement.
He urged police to communicate with the public on the various locations‚ operations and campaign drives to allow people to hand over their weapons; process of disabling the weapons on site without compromising forensic firearm investigation and cataloguing; and time frame for ultimately destroying the weapons and ammunition to prevent loss‚ theft or corruption peddling weapons back into communities.
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