Illegal firearm owners get a second chance with the extended firearm amnesty period

SA – A new six months firearm amnesty, commencing on 1 August until 31 January 2021, has been approved by parliament.

The previous amnesty period which was also intended for a period of six months, between December 2019 and May 2020 was thwarted by the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, the South African Police Service received a resounding 46,714 firearms.

However, SAPS believes that there are much more firearms out there that still need to be surrendered and are confident the response to the previous amnesty would have been even more resounding if it were not for the pandemic.

SAPS are urging people to take advantage of this period either to hand in those firearms and ammunition either for destruction or renewal of a competency certificate and a valid licence. It must be noted that no indemnity will be granted for firearms used to commit any crime. All firearms that have been handed in will undergo ballistic testing to ensure that they have not been used in the commission of any crimes before they can be considered for destruction.

For firearm amnesty enquiries, please contact FLASH Call Centre at ‪012 353 6111 or email on cfrenquiry@saps.gov.za.

South African Police Services press release extracts, 1 August 2020