In South Africa, Licensing Law Poses Hurdles for Gun Buyers

[Romulus]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/03/international/africa/03africa.html?oref=login&ei=5094&en=c9c3b61189594481&hp=&ex=1104728400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all&pos

"Many of Mr. Botha's clients have been turned down. The rest are waiting to be approved, but many of them could be turned down, too. South Africa has a new gun-ownership law, and since it took effect last summer, Redneck Tactical Supplies, one of two firearms shops in this rather proper white-picket-fence type of beach town, has applied to the government for ownership certificates for about 250 prospective buyers. "So far, we have yet to receive one certificate," Mr. Botha said."

*snip*

"More important, an applicant also must prove to the police that he or she needs a gun - a requirement, called motivation, which gun advocates complain is vague and hard to satisfy. Vague, maybe; hard, undoubtedly. In Thembalethu, a sprawling, poor black settlement on the southern coast about seven miles southeast of George, Vuyani Dingiswayo, 25, says he applied six months ago for permission to own a gun. The reason: he manages his family's tavern, a local landmark that sells a great deal of beer, and must carry thousands of dollars in receipts to a bank in George each week.

Mr. Dingiswayo said he had slept in the tavern each night to ward off burglars. After armed robbers raided a nearby business, he said, he concluded that he needed some way to protect himself in the tavern and on trips to the bank. "Last week we had a function at the stadium," he said. "We sold 200,000 rands worth of beer" - about $35,000, at current exchange rates. "I'm afraid to drive alone with that kind of money. The guys who are there, drinking, sometimes I'm afraid of them. We've had a lot of robbery. It's dangerous."

In October, Mr. Dingiswayo's application was rejected. "Insufficient something," he said. "They said I don't have a good reason."

*snip/lots more*, like:

"The chairman of the year-old Black Gun Owners Association, Abios Khoele, contends that the law is so strict that it is having the opposite of its intended effect. "Most of the people, they've already started to buy illegal firearms," he said. "Most of them are for self-defense, because they're living in some areas where the police are unable to protect them."
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Remember, it's all about "sensible gun safety laws," for "the good of society." </sarcasm>

[alwynsw]

1. The sad part fo me

is that there are many in this country and on this board who would love to see our freedoms curtailed in this manner.