Nah, Justin will never go back to Spears.
Posted on 11/15/2004 1:37:04 PM PST by neverdem
No assessment done of the economic effect of new legislation, Nqakula says
Government did not consider the economic effect of the Firearms Control Act and will not consider changing the law if it was found to be adversely affecting certain businesses in the country, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has said.
The Firearms Control Act, after being approved in 2000, was fully implemented in July this year. Reports of massive losses by gun dealers and difficulties in the hunting, film and private security industries have followed the full implementation of the act.
Huge numbers of applications for firearm licences have been rejected by the Central Firearms Registry and there have been charges there are not enough accredited facilities to test the competence of applicants.
Nqakula, in reply to a written question from Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Roy Jankielsohn, said: "No economic impact study was done." He said the most serious violent crimes involved the use of firearms and government's response was to impose> stricter firearms control in the country.
"The Firearms Control Act has made provisions for firearm dealers, the professional hunting industry, the film industry and the private security industry to be regarded as business entities. It is the responsibility of these entities to adapt their business models to comply with the provisions of firearms control legislation and to comply with their social responsibility as South Africans," Nqakula said.
He said that no job losses were anticipated due to the implementation of the act, but "businesses need to adapt to the new requirements of firearms control legislation to function as viable economic entities".
In response to a further question from Jankielsohn, Nqakula said there was no chance of the act being amended to mitigate any economic fallout.
The purpose of the legislation was "clear" and was designed to enhance the constitutionally enshrined rights to life and bodily integrity, to prevent the proliferation of illegally possessed firearms, to enable the state to remove illegally possessed firearms from society and to "control the supply, possession, safe storage, transfer and use of firearms and to detect and punish the negligent or criminal use of firearms".
It also emerged yesterday that a long awaited appearance by Nqakula at Parliament's safety and security committee tomorrow has been cancelled. The minister will be piloting anti-terrorism legislation through the National Assembly.
Jankielsohn said this would have been "a crucial opportunity for him to deal with the many concerns regarding the Central Firearms Registry, which have become even more pressing following recent media allegations of irregularities and possibly even corruption.
"The minister has not attended a single meeting of the parliamentary oversight committee since the new committee was formed after the April election. This poses question marks over his commitment to the democratic principles of transparency and accountability. It also appears that the committee does not have the political will to enforce its oversight responsibilities by holding the minister to account," he said.
If ever there was a place where your average person needs easy to use effective firearms . . .
That will never happen here.
Behold the future the Liberals have in store for us!
Famous last words.
Guess they go back to spears, pangas, and clubs.
What about spears?
"Guess they go back to spears, pangas, and clubs."
Not to mention lawnmower blades!
Top sends
This is so stupid. Take the guns away from law-abiding citizens, so that illegal guns will disappear? Less than 1% of the crime there is committed with licensed firearms. The problem now is the open borders, you can drive across into Mozambique, buy an AK 47 and 500 rounds for $100-00, and drive right back. And the illegal weapons already there, that is being used for all the violent crime, was imported by the ANC during the "liberation struggle", gladly donated by Cuba, USSR and the African neighbours to the north. To quote an old saying in Africa:"An unarmed man is a dead man." Looks like there will be a lot more dead than the current 80+ people being murdered daily.
Well...yeah...but...but at least they're not suffering under apartheid...and that's what really matters, right? To a liberal, I mean. (/sarcasm)
Ironic, isn't it. For years they fight against apartheid, finally get rid of it, and now the ANC government is fast taking away many of the freedoms people died for. A whole new "Cry, the beloved country".
My girlfriend in South Africa got a gun in her face demanding that her husband give him AIDS drugs. The criminals have all the guns while the law abiding citizens are getting disarmed. It's happening here too.
Zimbabwe - Full steam ahead !!
Nah, Justin will never go back to Spears.
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