Court shoots down new gun law fears
Industries saddled with special legal costs over their 'ill-advised' applicationJuly 01, 2004 Edition 1
Estelle Ellis
An 11th-hour bid by the gun, hunting and security industries to stop the draconian Firearms Control Act from coming into operation today has been rejected by the Pretoria High Court.
And despite having to hold their collective breaths to see how the new law would be implemented, these three industries were also yesterday saddled with a special legal cost order for bringing "an ill-advised" application and "failing dismally in their attempts to prove that the new law would harm them".
"The act means what it means, and the people must live with it," Mr Justice Ben du Plessis said.
The application to stop the law from coming into operation was filed on Friday. It was mainly based on three fears from the collective industries, that:
"We rely on the right like any other right to avoid calamity," Sam Maritz SC had said earlier in the day.
In papers before court, it was said the organisations had written to the police asking for clarity on a number of troublesome points.
The letter was sent on June 17, but no response was forthcoming. That is why they launched their legal action.
Judge Du Plessis said that on a rational reading of the
law, security firms and arms dealers would be allowed to continue as before under transitional measures.
Those in the hunting industry had more than a year to get their ducks in a row and after he had found that out, Judge Du Plessis had scant sympathy for the applicants.
To stop a law from coming into operation, it has to be proved that President Thabo Mbeki had acted irrationally when he promulgated the new law.
Central Firearms Registry spokesperson Senior Superintendent Andrew Lesch later called on the community to stay calm.
He said the most important thing to remember was that all valid licences issued under the old law would still be considered valid.
In a statement, the Professional Hunters' Association of South Africa said it was disappointed at the decision as it truly felt insufficient time had been set aside for full implementation of the act.
"Proper policy documents and procedures are not in place to circulate in our industry. This could mean that our foreign clients and our professional hunters, in most cases, are unable to adhere to the law.
"South Africa's image abroad as a premier hunting destination will receive severe setbacks. There is no doubt that this will have a detrimental effect to jobs in the wildlife sector."
"It was the only way we could get them (the Central Firearms Registry) to talk to us and tell us how they see the law.
Before Friday, the only thing we got from the CFR was silence. Then suddenly they issued a newsletter saying that the dealers would be allowed to continue trading.
"Then they issue a statement telling us that they would not disarm security guards. It seems that the goodwill of the police is now all we can rely on," Alex Holmes, of the South African Gun Owners Association, said after the proceedings.
