By Mbulelo Baloyi and Willem Steenkamp
There has been growing anger among gun owners and lobby groups who say new regulations make it virtually impossible for citizens to obtain gun licences.
Martin Hood, the South African Gun Owners Association (Sagoa) spokesperson, said the safety and security ministry must brace itself for a barrage of court actions.
The Freedom Front has also threatened to launch a constitutional court action against the government, which it says is systematically disarming law-abiding citizens under the new Firearms Control Act.
Hood said he had been inundated with calls from concerned licensed firearm owners regarding the Firearms Control Act of 2000.
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"Every day of the week I field calls from gun owners seeking information on this new Act, particularly around the renewal of licences."
He said the government had not adequately disseminated information about the new Act and this has put most licensed firearm owners at a disadvantage.
"All that the Central Firearms Registry said when it began implementing the new legislation was that licensed firearm owners would be timeously informed when they were due to renew their licences but to date very few have received those notices," said Hood.
As a result, he said, many affected licensed owners were contemplating taking the legal route in the form of the Promotion of Access to Information Act to force the government to furnish reasons for refusal to grant a firearm licence or renew it.
"As an association we are all for responsible gun control and ownership but constitutionally the process must be fair," said Hood.
He said the new Act was alienating many law-abiding responsible gun owners who "out of frustration will resort to underhand means to get firearms to protect themselves".
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