Gun related deaths and injuries

Note: figures are derived from the CMI system, which is a 'live' system, hence variations

• According to a United Nations survey of 69 countries, South Africa has one of the highest firearm related homicide rates in the world per 100 000 people, second only to Columbia. This is indicated in the following comparisons (United Nations: International Study on Firearms Regulation, 1998):
  
  

• Police figures indicate that firearms are increasingly being used in murders as is shown in the following table (Crime Information Analysis Centre, July 1999):
  
  

• The age breakdown of victims for 1996 gun-related murders and attempted murders is as follows (Crime Information Management Centre, 1997):
  
  

• An analysis of 1996 police figures shows that most firearm-related murders and attempted murders occurred in KwaZulu Natal (32% and 28% respectively), followed by Gauteng (30% and 25%), Eastern Cape and Western Cape. The Northern Cape experienced the lowest number of firearm-related murders and attempted murders (1%).
  
  
• South Africa has the highest number of law enforcement officers killed, 212, in comparison to the international mean of 17, in most cases so their guns can be stolen (UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 1997).
  
  
• Police figures show that small arms are the most commonly used firearms in firearm related murders and attempted murders as is shown in the following figure:

• The Minister of Safety and Security reported that a total of 29 694 firearms were reported lost and stolen in 1998, an average of over 80 guns a day. According to the Minister only 1 775 of these guns were stolen from policemen, the rest were stolen from or lost by civilians (Report to Parliament, 18 March 1999).
  
  
• Of the 29 694 guns stolen in 1998, only 1 764 (6%) were recovered in that year (Report to Parliament, 18 March 1999), the rest, by definition, fell into criminal hands.
  
  
• In 1996, 9 586 people were found to be in unlawful possession of a firearm, increasing to 10 065 in 1997 (Crime Information Analysis Centre, October 1998).
  
  
• 51 005 cases of robbery with a firearm were reported in 1996, increasing to 69 501 in 1998 (Crime Information Analysis Centre, July 1999).
  
  

Licensing and Ownership

• The number of guns is increasing annually in South Africa, with the Central Firearms Register receiving about 18 000 to 20 000 new applications monthly.
  
  
• 195 639 firearm licenses were approved in 1996, and 195 398 in 1997 (Report of committee of inquiry into Central Firearm Register, Duncan, 1998).
  
  
• There are an estimated 11 to 13 million firearms in South Africa, 4 million legally owned, 5 million belonging to the South African National Defence Force and Police Service and 1 to 4 million being illegally held (Figures from NCPS, 1996: 31, Ceasefire Anti-war News (1996), 1 (5):7).
  
  

The Minister of Safety and Security reported that 2 723 people of 16 years of age were issued with firearm licenses between 1 January 1995 and 20 August 1998 (Hansard, 26 August 1998)