Commission on Gender Equality

Submission to the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security
on the Firearms Control Bill (B34 -2000]

1. Introduction
1.1 The Commission on Gender Equality, in terms of its mandate, (Section 11 of Act 39, 1996) hereby welcomes the introduction of the Firearms Control Bill as a further means of humanising our society, and more specifically, making our country a safer place for women. The Bill represents an important, albeit limited, move away from a deeply atavistic and patriarchal world-view and towards a society that is compassionate and non-sexist.

1.2 We view this Bill as a significant step in the creation of a society where the use of firearms will be confined to the formal institutions of the State specifically tasked with the defence of our country's inhabitants and its borders. The examples of countries near (Botswana) and far (Japan) illustrate that the vision of a civil society totally liberated from firearms need not be a pipe dream. Given that we would have preferred legislation that totally prohibits the use of firearms by civilians and, notwithstanding, our awareness of the constraints under which our lawmakers framed the Bill, our support for the Bill is thus a qualified one.

1.3 Our position that South Africa must move towards a society where all civilian access to firearms is prohibited is supported by careful research into the fatalities caused and danger posed by the proliferation of firearms - legal or otherwise. While such research is invoked in this submission we are not aware that the same set of statistics may be used by our protagonists. For this reason we want to emphasise that our more general reason for supporting this Bill is the belief that simplistic solutions to deeply rooted socio-economic problems need to be avoided and that our attempts to create a more just and humane society themselves need to incorporate these ideals. In other words, our responses to crime and the inhumanity at the heart of these, should not be characterised by inhuman strategies.

1.4 More specifically, related to the mandate of the CGE is the ideal of ending the culture where weapons are seen as an extension of a male's manhood and the means whereby he protects his 'property", including women. Any society which views a gun as "the most treasured possession" after one's wife is a sick one for it a) assumes that women are mere appendages and that society actually comprises of males b) reduces women to a commodity and c) detracts from the inherent worth of men and places their value in something that they own.

1.5 The CGE is convinced that for the real person to emerge in men, men have to dispense with notions of the indispensability of weapons. We seek to create a society that is the antithesis of one where men "join the SA Police so that I could get a gun and feel like a proper man" or where "in my village a man has to carry a weapon even if he goes to the shop, so that everybody should see that it is a man walking" (cited in Cock, 1998,1). At the heart of our support for this Bill is a feminist and womanist challenge to the militarization of society and the notion that problems can be resolved by violence.

2. Support for the Bill
2.1 While both men and women are the victims of violence, the undisputed truth is that, in the main, the perpetrators of crime are men and the vast majority of victims are women. This also holds true for crimes perpetrated with firearms.

2.2 Studies in South Africa and elsewhere show that more women are shot at home in domestic violence situations than out on the streets or at the hands of intruders. Rather than providing protection to women, guns increase the risk of homicide or suicide of women in the home. In a 1 994 study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, it was found that 94 out of 118 women were shot by male partners or ex-partners. (Vetten, 1995).

2.3 A Report by the Violence Policy Study Centre in the USA released in 1988 found that "homicides against women are surrounded by mythology and sensationalism that suggest women are typically murdered by depraved rapist or muggers who jump from a dark alley or break into a home. The firearms industry and gun lobby are particularly enthusiastic in perpetuating these images as part of their advertising and rhetoric. These scenarios are the least common ones. Instead, homicides are most frequently the result of domestic violence, most often using a gun (Violence Policy Centre, 1994)

2.4 We are often told that guns are to homicide what motor vehicles are to accidents. In other words, it is not guns that kill, but people. The likelihood of any potential victim escaping, however, is greatly diminished in the face of a gun. As one women victim put it, you can run from physical abuse, but you cannot run away from a gun. (cited in Ryan 1998).

2.5 We acknowledge that a minority of women are responding to gender violence by arming themselves in the belief that they will be safer. Guns, however, provide people with an illusion of security because owning one, may make women easier targets rather than giving them an opportunity to defend themselves. A study in 1997 showed that 78 % of victims' guns were stolen during the crime perpetrated against them and that the victims were four times more likely to have their firearms stolen than to use them in self-defence (Altbeker, 1997).

2.6 While the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 is a significant attempt to eliminate gender violence, securing an interdict against the abuser is a "not a complete guarantee of safety, and indeed, is often meaningless to someone who has gun and has threatened to kill a woman. In fact, most women who are killed by their partners, are killed when they try to leave." (Palesa Maketa, POWA)

2.7 International studies show that the levels of gun ownership in a population are commensurate with the levels of violence irrespective of the class basis of the owners. A casual perusal of relevant comparisons between Canada and the USA bears this out. Canada has approximately 1 million handguns in circulation while the USA has 77 million. While the murder rate without handguns in the USA is roughly 1,3 times that of Canada, the murder rate with handguns in the USA is roughly 15 times that of Canada.

3. General Comments on the Bill
3.1 The Bill is a very significant departure from the existing Arms and Ammunition Act that is inherently open to abuse despite several amendments. While the Bill places proper structures in place to achieve its objectives, a total prohibition of firearms to civilians would have dispensed with the need for such structures and would have saved the fiscus the costs of setting these up and maintaining them. There may be some merit in the argument that the structures envisaged to administer the Bill are cumbersome and may prove to be very costly. In response, we would argue that nothing is too costly to save human life. If cost or cumbersome structures are really that problematic then total prohibition of civilian access to firearms is the better option.

3.2 The CGE supports the demand by Gun-Free South Africa for the establishment of an Independent Firearms Authority "as another protection against the manipulation of the licensing system by 'insiders' in collaboration with some of those in whose financial interest it is to sell as many guns as possible to as many people as possible". Such an authority would also oversee the competency of investigations and the issuing of licenses. An equally, if not more significant task of such an authority though would be to explore and recommend ways of continuously tightening up relevant legislation with a view to the ever greater restriction of licensing until the ideal of a gun-free civil society is attained.

3.3 Under Section 2 (Purpose of the Act) of Chapter 1 we would welcome a clause specifically stating that one of the purposes of the Act is to further limit civilian use of and access to firearms.

3.4 We particularly welcome the fact that the first sentence of the Preamble presents the Bill in the context of the States' broader commitment to the rights of every person to life and to security, including the right to be free from all forms of violence.

3.5 Within the context of the limitations flowing from this (3.1 above), we commend the drafters for the following provisions.

- The inclusion of Domestic Violence as a grounds for denial or restriction on gun ownership

- The provisions for Competency Certificates, the need for regular renewal of licenses and the greater limits on the number of firearms and ammunition which individuals may apply to have licensed, the stricter controls over the carrying and storing of firearms and the placing of the onus on the applicant to prove his or her need to own a firearm.

- Linking all the data of license-holders and applicants in a new Central Firearms Register.

- The powers given to the Minister in terms of Clause 149 to declare firearm-free zones. Besides its usefulness in areas of immediate or unforeseen violence, this provision can be a significant measure to extend the areas of our country totally liberated from guns in civilian hands.

3.6 The public advertising of firearms and display of wares in the outlets of licensed dealers ought to be regulated (similar to the way in which pornography is regulated) with a view to enhancing the notion that firearms do not belong in a decent society.

4. Recommendations
a) Preamble: We suggest that the preamble contain a clause a) referring to the ideal of a gunfree civil society and b) specifically referring to domestic violence which remains the most pervasive form of violence in our society.

b) 4 (1) e : 'substantial' needs to be defined or clarified

c) 4(1)f: 'an imitation' needs to be qualified.

d) Chanter 5: Competency Certificate:

e) First, we are concerned that current license holders under the terms of the existing Arms and Ammunitions Act are not required to undergo a competence certification test and urge that this be redressed. IT the Act is to have any significant impact on the lives of our people and women in particular then we cannot allow current ownership with all the legacy of corruption, privilege, incompetence in the handling of firearms, and their possession in the hands of domestic violence perpetrators to go unchallenged. This is tantamount to saying that only new recruits into the country's security forces will be subjected to incorporation into the country's human rights culture and, as for the others, they can employ the old methods with the old weapons until they retire or die.

Second, while the Bill proposes a fairly sophisticated mechanism to administer its licensing and monitoring provisions we share the concern of the Network of Violence Against Women regarding its inadequate resourcing. We would urge that the all the envisaged structures be adequately resourced and that such resources be drawn from the costs of gun licenses.

Third, while we welcome the denial of applications from those who have had orders issued against them we are concerned about the lack of any provision compliance with this given the absence of a central data base of such persons.
protection to ensure

f) 10: We endorse all the recommendations of the Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women to amend the Bill under Section 10. In addition to soliciting the opinions of family members before a competency certificate is issued, the involvement of a broader community panel is vital to assist the registrar to arrive at a proper decision. This could be further facilitated if applications are advertised in the area where the applicant resides. Members of such a panel should be drawn from local communities with adequate provision for the inclusion of persons with a commitment to eradicating all forms of gender based violence. Admittedly a difficult issue, although not insurmountable, in this regard to this proposal is the freedom of information which any applicant who is denied a license may have. This could conceivably result in violence against members of the Community panel as well as against family members who offered evidence against his or her suitability to own a firearm.

g) 11 (2) (a) : We believe that the age of competency is far too low. The assumption of adulthood at 18 may be valid in some areas of rights but our constitution and laws have numerous examples of deviations from this. We recommend that it be amended to 25 years with the proviso that the Registrar may exercise his or her discretion based on a) clearly defined criteria for the ages between 21 and 25 where further exceptional circumstances prevail that would not normally have made the applicant eligible and b) a public notice of these applications for exceptions prior to their being granted.

h) 11 (2) (d): Add "emotional disposition" after "mental condition" and qualify/define both expressions as well as the means of verifying these. The reason for including stable emotional disposition is that while an applicant may not be certifiable in the psychiatric sense of the word, he or she may be temperamentally ill-suited to access to dangerous weapons.

i) 11 (3): We endorse the objections in the submission of the Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women for the same reason stated therein, i.e., a) domestic violence convictions seldom result in 'more than six months imprisonment without the option of a fine" and b) there is no evidence to suggest that in a five year period after the completion of sentence, a domestic violence or rape perpetrator changes his or her violent behaviour.

j) Section 15 (1) (a&b) and (3): Licence to possess a firearm for self-defence: However limited the merits of the arguments advanced for the use of firearms as weapon of self-defence, the Commission cannot comprehend the need for two licensed firearms for this purpose. If the law wishes to reduce firearms while at the same time making allowance for those deluded into a false sense of security by carrying a firearm, it is incomprehensible that the availability of two firearms to one individual will any way serve any of these purposes. We would strongly urge that this be amended to limit the licensed individual to one firearm.

k) Section 30: Period of validity of licence or permit: The validity of a license for self-defence firearms is too extensive and ought to be reduced to three years.

I) 31 (2): Termination of firearm licence: An additional clause needs to be inserted stipulating that if any of the circumstances which motivated the applicant to apply for the license in the first instance changes, then he or she is under obligation to inform the Firearms Authority within a reasonable period with a view to having the license revoked. Failure to do so ought to be a criminal offence.

m) 32 (1&2): Provision must be made for reasonable exceptions where a person was unable to comply with these clauses. Furthermore, these clauses do not specify that failure to report a missing or stolen firearm within the stipulated period is an offence and ought to lead to the loss of the license.

n) 94. (1): The amount of 200 cartridges for each firearm is hugely exorbitant and gives the impression of someone preparing for a mini-war rather than self-defence. The CGE proposes the reasonable amount of 5 cartridges at any given time on the assumption that all training ought to take place in properly regulated and licensed institutions specifically designated for such purpose.

o) 94.(2): For reasons outlined above this figure for an annual allocation ought to be reduced to 30.

p) 101. ff.: The Commission does not want to negate the value of any of the divisions of our country's security service. The position at the moment though is that the South African Police Services are under severe stress and this has had a significant impact on their emotional lives. All of this is widely acknowledged and well documented. Much of this stress has resulted in members of SAPS committing a disproportionate amount of Domestic Violence - 35% higher than the average - and femicide. Given this situation, it is a matter of serious concern that SAPS members are exempted from compliance with the competency certificate criteria. Our submission is a) the possession and use of firearms for SAPS members be confined to the hours and space of duty and b) that they apply like any other civilian for the use of non-service firearms if they feel the need to do so.

q) 105. (1): The use of the word "may" instead of "must" in this clause serves to undermine the entire subsequent section and places far too great a responsibility and discretion on the Registrar. "May" has to be replaced with "must". Furthermore, the role of the community-based forums suggested in 10.4 above should be spelt out in this section.

r) 105 (1) (c): "has an inclination to violence" should be substituted with "is temperamentally ill-suited to access to any dangerous weapons."

5) 105 (1) (e): "withheld relevant information from the Licensing Authority" should be inserted after "misleading".

t) 106: We support the submission and all the recommendations made by the Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women regarding this section and its inadequacies.

u) 106 (3) (a): The omission of murder and assault in Schedule 2 which this clause refers to is a serious error.

v) 131 ff: The CGE supports the submission of Gunfree South Africa in regard to the inadequacy of the Bill's current provisions for an appeal board and for the institution of a more local forum, such as the Magistrate's Courts, for appeals to be lodged.

Table of Recommendations