Firearms Control Amendment Bill 2021, deadline: 2 August 

Should I bring a knife to a gun fight?

“No firearm licences may be issued for self-defence purposes”… 
The draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill 2021 is open for public comment. We encourage you to participate via an official platform at the following link: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/firearm-control-2021/. Minister of Police Bheki Cele has granted an extension on submissions on changes to the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, with the public now having until the end of July to comment.
All interested persons can submit written comments on the draft bill to:
comments.fcabill@csp.gov.za 
Provide your name, surname, postal and e-mail address, telephone and fax number. 
Make it count. Don’t wait – send the email NOW! Seriously, this is no joke. 

“To provide that no firearm licences may be issued for self-defence purposes”… This part of the sentence in the bill has the nation up in arms… well, more specifically, those who own guns for the purpose of defending themselves and their loved ones against evil. 
The Firearm Amendment Bill was published in the Government Gazette on Friday 21 May. The draft Bill seeks to amend the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No. 60 of 2000). Read more on: https://www.saps.gov.za/resource_centre/notices/downloads/invitation_for_public_comment_draft_notice_in_gazette_2021.pdf
Amnesty… I’m sure all the bad guys handed in their guns. Why? Because the cops asked them to! In January this year, most media outlets highlighted SAPS’ plea in which they reminded the public to surrender their illegal and unwanted firearms, firearm parts, or ammunition without fear of being persecuted. The deadline for the firearm amnesty was Sunday 31 January 2021. From 1 August 2020 up to two weeks before the deadline 23,399 firearms and 119,781 rounds of ammunition were surrendered. Of the firearms surrendered, 3,139 were voluntarily handed in by their legal owners while 20,260 – for which licenses have expired – were handed in. Subsequent to this, 23,724 rounds of ammunition were also voluntarily handed over to police including 96,057 rounds of ammunition that were surrendered by owners whose firearm licenses had expired.
So, whose got the firepower? The bad guys, the police and security companies. 
Our beloved country…
We are burdened by the social ills accompanied by Covid-19. Unemployment – based on the expanded definition – stands at 42,6% as per the Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Approximately 18 million South Africans depend on some form of a social grant to live. Sweat and sorrow… against an option of buying a gun for R500 in a dark back-alley, which could change your financial predicament if you use it in a robbery...