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Letter Re: Life Under South Africa's Gun Laws, by Joe Ordinary Voortrekker
This article is a response to a large and glaring preparedness
dilemma for myself. Being a law abiding citizen I cannot willfully put myself
or my family into a situation where we can be held legally liable for the commission
of a crime. If I had a ‘run-in’ with the law because
of my beliefs on firearms and freedom, it can and will put my family at risk.
Unfortunately we live in a country where the liberty of its
citizens is at the mercy of the State. South Africa is for all intents and
purposes a ‘Free and democratic’ country. However, our government
is an openly socialist government. They require the dependency of its citizens,
every law that is passed is to ensure a more conformist and dependant populace.
One of the laws that was passed was the Firearms
Control Act of 2000. It is
another of a long stream of attempts to remove the right to bear arms in South
Africa. This act and the previous one allow for highly controlled and restrictive
legislation. Below, I will give a brief overview of the pertinent points as
it relates to the rights of individuals to keep arms. It is however, the root
of my dilemma. No
matter how many or types arms I would like to possess, or what types and amounts
of ammunition I would like to keep, I am controlled by the State every step
of the way with 101 different [regulatory details.]
Before I get to South African firearms legislation, let me give you some insight
as to where my thoughts stem from. Basically, after reading through the Profiles
of survivalists on SurvivalBlog,
and the recommendations of the most esteemed JWR. I could see no way that I
could become ‘squared away’ on the arms and ammunition side. Our
laws in South Africa are just too restrictive! That however has changed, as
there is a way. All it took was a little bit of lateral thinking and a copy
of "Patriots"
.
Well actually the other way around, the lateral thought came after the second
reading of "Patriots".
In this article I’m going to talk from a South African perspective and
relate this information from our view. What I am hoping and intending is that
it will get people to think through their firearm purchases and utilize every aspect or at least as many aspects as possible of the law
for their own benefit. The South Africa situation may or may not apply to you,
however this article is not intended for the US readers of SurvivalBlog, but more to people that live elsewhere and to give
them the hope that there is potentially a way. The idea is to think laterally
and use the rights that have been allowed you in every way possible.
Here is a brief synopsis of how the South African Firearms laws are applicable
to ordinary citizens. For the ‘casual’ owner, people are restricted
to a maximum of four firearms. The breakdown is as follows:
- One Handgun
- One Shotgun
- One Rifle (Not Semi Auto) (With associated proof that you hunt)
- One Casual Sports
shooting firearm ([another] one of any
of the above)
Only one of the first two (Handgun/Shotgun) may be designated a self defense
firearm and there are legal ramifications if you shoot someone in self defense
with another firearm. If you are a dedicated
sportsman/hunter/collector you are able to increase your firearm collection,
but always under strict monitoring and conditions. And you have to have proof,
proof and more proof.
Also we need to re-license every 2, 5, or 10 years depending on the type of
license. Along with additional costs, competency tests, fingerprints, home/safe
inspection and vetting of you by your family and/or neighbors, etc etc ad nauseam.
The way that I see this is that the Government wants the public disarmed, and
they are making it harder and harder and a real pain in the sphincter to re-apply
for their licenses, so most guys just give up and hand their weapons in.
With Ammo, you may only possess a maximum 200 rounds of any of the calibers
that you are licensed for. Possession of a single [loaded] round of any other
caliber is illegal unless you are a licensed cartridge collector. (This is
another painful exercise, and will not assist in stockpiling ammo) As for components.
Bullets, brass cartridge cases and magazines are not regulated. However primers
and propellants are. With primers, no more than 2,400 of any size. In addition,
so are some spare parts, barrels, sears etc. (BTW, a spare barrel is
considered a firearm in South Africa [, since pressurized gun parts are regulated.
Effectively, the barrel rather than the frame or receiver is considered the
"firearm"])
As an aside, I have watched the debate on concealed carry in the US with interest.
In South Africa we are legally bound to carry [handguns] 100% concealed, no
open carry, unless you are in Law Enforcement. So the question is with laws
like this, how does one stockpile firearms and ammo? And what is the best way
to get the maximum out of the minimum we are allowed to possess.
The only way that this can be done is to prepare for possible scenarios that
may develop in the future. This is the tack that we have taken:
1) Get legally
diversified with the correct calibers.
2) Keep only calibers that allow you to maximize your long term defense potential
3) Stock up on unregulated items that will allow for barter even if it’s
not one of your calibers.
Okay, so I just mentioned that one needs to have the correct calibers This
is, as everyone knows a very subjective statement. So how did we decide what
the correct calibers are? In a scenario where there is true TEOTWAWKI then
there will be a source of readily available arms and ammunition. Courtesy
of our Law Enforcement and Military. Looking at these services, we see that
the following calibers are the most common.
12 Gauge Shotgun,
5.56 NATO (AKA .223)
7.62 NATO (AKA .308)
and 9mm Parabellum (9x19mm ["Luger"]).
My logic and methodology here is to maximize my options in terms of usable
and obtainable ‘components’ while still keeping within the framework
of our legal system. I have also decided that we will not
apply for further weapons licenses as I do not want nor require the additional
infringement of my privacy nor the ‘red flags’ that
come with owning a ‘large’ firearms collection. So based on the
highest
OPSEC possible in this situation, here is what we have done.
For a handguns I have chosen a .45 ACP my wife a 9mm Parabellum
For shotguns we have both chosen 12 gauge Pump actions
For casual Sports Shooting my wife has chosen a .22 LR pistol, and I have a
scoped and suppressed .22LR rifle.
For hunting rifles I have chosen a .308 and my wife a .223
So our choices above keep us [both] at the four gun limit, no additional background
checks and gives us a broad spread of calibers that will allow us to store
primers, powder, and some ammunition.
On the unregulated side we have and are currently stocking up on the following.
Virgin and fired brass in all of the above calibers, in addition to this we
add any fired brass that we can scrounge. Various design and weight
bullet moulds with the same methodology, factory made bullets in rifle and
handgun
calibers. Reloading dies, in any and all calibers that we can get. However
we do concentrate on the dies for the brass
that we have. (There is no point in having dies and no brass.) Cleaning kits
and components, and lead and tin stocks, as well as reloading presses. For
[rifle and pistol] brass
reloading,
we have standardized on Lee brand turret presses
and the single stage RCBS Rockchucker as most can be had at very reasonable
prices on the secondhand market here. For shotgun shell reloading we have standardized
on Lee Load All.
Now the logic behind this. If ever the SHTF in a big way, we will be able to
drive off most attacks, however if this degenerates into an extended and protracted “Patriots"-like
scenario we should have all of the ‘makings’ to use captured weaponry
as well as being able to supply and reproduce the correct ammo for such captured
weaponry.
There are a few points to remember.
1.) Pressure and primer differences in military and civilian ammo. Know
what
you are doing or don’t do it!
2.) Always stay within the law, while the law is the law. Becoming an illegal ‘arms
hoarder’ will get you into a heap of trouble, which
only leaves your family at risk.
3.) OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC don’t brag around the braai (Barbecue) as to what
you
will do when TSHTF. Or what you have stockpiled, hidden, buried etc. Personally,
I find that very few people in South Africa have a preparedness/survivalist mentality.
If you start discussing what you are doing be circumspect in every
aspect.
Finally, as an aside, Just this last week we were given detailed information
about
the preps of a ‘new age’ religious Doomer ("The
sky is going to fall in 2012") that lives just outside a small town over
400 kilometers away. This person has told her family about her preps and this
news has
now traveled all over the country. We now know almost everything that she
has
done
including evacuation and storage details. The family (rightly?) believes she
is
a nutcase and actively ridicule her preps. [An OPSEC breach like this presents]
a very
scary
scenario.
