Now the time to sort out estate firearm licenses

People who are in possession of estate firearms and have not made any effort to license these firearms in terms of Act 60/2000, now have the opportunity to register these firearms legally in terms of the Firearms Control Act. 

“The amnesty period which was announced by Government will run from 1 April to 30 September this year and focus specifically on firearms from estates which have not been licensed or disposed of in terms of the new Act.  With this amnesty announced by Government, it is the first time that specific focus is placed on estate firearms,” said Mr Marius du Preez of the Legally Armed Group in Polokwane.

Du Preez said people need not be afraid that they will be prosecuted.  “This is exactly what amnesty is, to be exempted from prosecution. If you have any estate firearms in your possession and the firearm does appear on the SAPS Firearms System, you will be able to hand in the firearm and also be allowed to apply for the licensing of the said firearm during this time - of course within the scope allowed under the amnesty,” said Du Preez. He added that this could even be done if the executor of the estate was not known or not available any more, and even though all the usual documents were not available for the estate any longer. “General amnesty exempts you from prosecution if you participate in the process out of your own free will and hand in these firearms in order to license them, have them deactivated or destroyed,” said Du Preez.

Since 2005, with the implementation of the Firearms Control Act, the responsibility of estate firearms was placed squarely on the shoulders of executors. “People should use this amnesty and not keep quiet or hide estate firearms, or even worse, try and dispose of such firearms by destroying them or throwing them away down old boreholes or mine shafts.  It is important to remember that there is a record of these firearms with the SAPS and that all government systems are linked. The minute a death is recorded at Home Affairs onto their system, it is known and recorded by the SAPS on the Firearms System.  The SAPS will therefore start looking for estate firearms with the heirs and family members of the deceased firearm owner when they follow up after the amnesty period has lapsed,” said Du Preez.

The fact that all firearms licenses are not available for estate firearms is also not a major problem. “You can take the RSA ID number or copy of the RSA ID document of the deceased to your nearest SAPS's DFO offices and find out exactly which firearms were licensed in his/her name according to the SAPS firearms system.  It is also important to remember that licenses for air rifles which used to be licensed in the name of a person should be cancelled as one is no longer required to have .177 air rifles licensed. If you do not apply for the cancellation of the license, however, it will appear in the deceased’s name and the SAPS will then have to follow up and look for the specific firearm,” warned Du Preez.

Du Preez said it was important that the original signature of the executor must appear on all relevant documents pertaining to firearms from the estate.  All documents must be accompanied by five source documents: the RSA ID of the deceased, the firearm licenses of the firearms, the death certificate, the executor’s appointment letter and the RSA ID of the executor.  “The amnesty does, however, now allow for these firearms to be disposed of even if all the source documents are not present. A statement by the executor could now, for instance, be used to replace certain source documents and therefore have the firearms disposed of,” said Du Preez.

The amnesty period, however, does not address the licenses that expired before the license holders could apply for the renewal of these licenses. A court hearing instituted by SAADA, SAHGCA and Fidelity Guard, scheduled for 25 and 26 April 2017, which will specifically address these lapsed licenses, is currently under way.

For more information on the above, contact Du Preez at 015 297 7724/8002, or by e-mail at [email protected] of [email protected].

Date:11 March 2017

By: Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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