To: busday@bdfm.co.za
Subject: Editor - This law must work - evidence?
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 20:57:21

The Editor, Business Day

Dear Sir

Your statement in Business Day that "OPPONENTS of the Firearms Control Bill have offered no convincing arguments" is without merit or evidence.

Before medicine can be placed on the market for public consumption it must rightly pass a whole plethora of tests. To ensure that it is both safe for public consumption and produces the results claimed.

Business Day, the government and gun control have offered a medicine to cure crime and the supply of guns to criminals. It is incumbent upon the sponsors of the medicine to produce the evidence to show that it will indeed cure crime and be safe for public consumption. That such medicine they are proposing will indeed safe-guard the public as claimed.

As in medicine trials and tests are done and the results carefully examined to ensure that what is claimed is in truth the desired result. That there have been many trials and tests of gun control is evidenced by the many countries, states and cities of the world that have introduced such controls as legislation. Such evidence of trials and tests is incontrovertible.

What then has been the result of these tests and trials? Have they produced the results claimed and the desired results promised by gun control?

That they have failed completely and utterly to reduce crime or the supply of guns to criminals is a matter of public record that you or anyone could obtain and study. That you have not done so is an indication of your unwillingness to accept the truth about the medicine you propose.

Further the results of these trials have been buried, forgotten, never to be mentioned by the media, gun control or governments that would subject their citizens to the same medicine and results.

You are therefore invited to show the results of these trials that prove conclusively that the medicine you propose will both reduce crime and the supply of guns to criminals. Since as in medicine the untested or incorrectly assumed results could cause injury and death to those that you are so willing to apply it to.

You may wish to quote some well known test areas; Washington DC. Florida, District of Columbia, Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Australia and Brazil.

If gun control worked to reduce crime and the supply of guns to criminals then you should have no difficulty in supplying a long and illustrious list of success. That you will not find a single one is testament to the lie you promote.

To: busday@tml.co.za
Subject: letters
Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2001 20:59:44

Dear Sir

The letter "Laws will help reduce number of firearms" from JA Janse van Rensburg (GFSA) refers: Once again Janse van Rensburg (GFSA) shows how willing ready and able he is to propagate anything that is not remotely factual or even close to the truth.

GFSA attended the public hearings of Safety and Security on the Firearms Control Bill. Mr. Schutte (SAPS) was questioned on the costs and admitted that R882 Million had already been allocated in the budget. That a further R217 Million was needed. That approximately R120 Million was needed for new computers. R5.6 Million for 117 DFOs. R4.2 Million for 55 vehicles. R1.2 Million furniture. R1.4 Million for office equipment. The break down of the R217 Million is in the latest police budget.

What is quite obvious is that these figures are not accurate or adequate for the provisions of the Firearms Control Bill as any qualified accountant will confirm. Nor do they include the additional staff needed by the CFR.

Canada has tried registration of firearms owners and the Canadian register does not contain one tenth of the information required by South Africa. It has cost the Canadians $350 Million so far, more than four times the budgeted figure of $80 Million. The Canadian register is not half complete and already grossly inaccurate. There is no reason or evidence to believe that the South African implementation will be more accurate or more cost efficient.

There are many people yet to be convinced that the expenditure of more than R1.2 Billion on record keeping will place one criminal behind bars. Or be convinced that this money could not be better spent on upgrading the already poor resources of the police. When vehicles need replacement or are out of commission because spares can not be purchased. That stand unused because tyres and petrol are needed but no funds are available.

What we need to do is carefully examine the calls of zealots blind to the havoc they cause when government takes up their ill though out and unreasonable demands.

Firearms applicants are quite willing to pay for services that they receive. Possibly somebody would like to illuminate exactly what services these will be and who will benefit from them.

Copyright © 2001 Crimefree South Africa, all rights reserved.