Ban on self defence devices

[Chatmaster]

So I ask this question! What on earth is the ANC planning to do to us? Are they planning to take over all of our lives with lame excuses every time they meet?

I have been practicing martial arts for many years. One of the reasons I didn't mind to get rid of my firearms was because I knew that I still had a chance with my Tonfa and Nunchaka's to defend myself successfully. NOW, they seem to be planning to make it illegal for us to defend ourselves, and then they are stating they hope it will result in a drop in crime!

Check it out here

Seriously are these guys completely wacko or is something really fishy going on. Is government possibly being run by crime lords? I mean is criminals going to care what laws they bring out? The only people that will be effected by this is the law abiding citizens, but offcourse they do know that Guys something VERY sinister is going on and we better start to prepare ourselves to make a serious stand for our right to protect ourselves against the crime lords that has senior positions in our government.

[Chatmaster]

Just in case someone is looking for the official notification, here it is...

[twinscythe12332]

no firearms, now no weapons at all. well, I can take guesses as to where they'll all end up... on the street, or more importantly, in a law abiding citizen.

[Dave A]

Some aspects of this just had to be coming. There are all sorts of weapons that have much the same effect as firearms that haven't been under control up to now. And I see the sports and recreation exemption is there - so you'll still be able to play with your Nunchukas and archery folk can still have their bows and arrows.

The goal, surely, is to remove the carrying of weapons for criminal purposes - or at gatherings or public places. These are really good ideas. But legislation alone is not going to achieve this. Until we see active policing removing these weapons, the legislation isn't worth the paper it's written on.

So in this age where we are aware of the need for holisitic solutions, draft legislation such as this should also be accompanied by the intended action plan to make it effective. Especially, to ensure that it is not a penalty for law abiding citizens only, but also effective amongst the lawless - the very origin of the need for such legislation in the first place.

[Chatmaster]

I am very concerned about this whole issue. First of all I have to give my opinion about the Firearm act.

I was a fire arms instructor for many years in the SAPS on Maleoskop. My firearm training was equal to none and can probably compare to the training that STF received back then. My training also included disarming techniques and knife techniques.

That being said, what am I on about? Well the firearm laws are a complete failure. The majority of people owning a firearm legally still doesn't know how to use it. Firing a few shots on a shooting range still doesn't prepare you for the serious consequences of firing a gun at a human. Knowing the law has nothing to do with it. It is all about psychology of the shooting of another human being that makes it dangerous. A further point is handling a gun under pressure and then with so little training being able to make the right judgment in using such a far reaching commitment required solution to a problem. The odds on it landing up causing your death is much more probable if you know just enough to give you enough confidence to make you dangerous.

The same most probably can be said about many other weapons as well. I remember back in the early nineties when I was an instructor the weapon in the US that caused the most murders was a screw driver, number two on the list was a table fork! Yep I am not thumb sucking it. A table fork! It was responsible back then for more murders than knives and guns. So does the moral values of society play a role? I am pretty sure it does.

Disarming us completely whilst the moral values of a society is still not up to scratch is doing the wrong thing. Disarming us will make crime much more lucrative. Next thing we hear, we are not allowed to have dogs because they can be regarded as dangerous weapons.

[daveob]

After all the paperwork I had to do last week for a firearm licence renewal, I'm gonna be there an awefully long time for the screwdrivers ( electric with 48 bits ) and the 24 piece dinner cutlery set !! And then there's the carving set, the salad fork, the garden fork, the cake forks, the fondue forks, the ..... and imagine the paperwork for all these variants.

Seriously though, I agree with Chatmaster - the whole new renewal process is a farce. I even had an 'open book' test, and didn't even need to actually read the questions.