South Africa: "Seized: over one million bullets"

[cuchulainn]

from the Independent

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20030409094910294C906820&set_id=1

Seized: over one million bullets

April 09 2003 at 09:49AM

By Johan Schronen

Police clamping down on rogue arms importers have seized a consignment of 1,38 million new shotgun cartridge casings and primers from a container in Cape Town harbour.

Firearms control detectives believe the haul was imported without a proper permit.

This follows a swoop in January, when police seized an arsenal of 280 AK-47 assault rifles at a Cape Town International Airport freight company, and an earlier raid on an Epping courier company where detectives seized boxes of used 9mm pistols.

The raids demonstrate a gloves-off approach by police, who have launched a national campaign to stop the flow of illegal firearms.

The campaign was launched last month by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, and police are stepping up action against criminals with unlicensed guns, corrupt police issuing irregular permits, and firms illegally importing arms and ammunition.

Provincial firearms control chief Jacques van Lill said every illegal gun had once been legally owned by a supposedly competent person.

He said it meant that effective firearm control should start with legal owners, who should handle and protect their guns to avoid criminals getting hold of them.

The industry was not entirely compliant either and had to be policed as individual gun owners were, Van Lill said.

In many cases police found dealers had contravened the Arms and Ammunition Act simply through negligence or poor administration.

Warning dealers to get their house in order, he called for stricter enforcement of the act, whether it was in the business sector, government departments or with private gun owners, so the flow of guns into the underworld would be stemmed.

A recent Medical Research Council report highlighted the fact that more South Africans died in firearm-related incidents than in car accidents and that in 2001 almost half of all killings had involved guns.

©2003.