The South African police on Saturday announced the firearms amnesty extension for six months to allow those with illegal and possession of firearms which they do not need to surrender them without prosecution.
The police said the amnesty period is from Aug. 1 until Jan. 31, 2021.
“We believe that there are much more firearms out there that still need to be surrendered and we are confident the response to the previous amnesty would have been even more resounding if it were not for the pandemic,” said police spokesperson Brenda Muridili.
She said during the last six months amnesty, the South African Police Service received a resounding 46,714 firearms during the period from December last year to May.
Muridili said they want to reduce the number of illegal firearms circulating in the country used to commit violent crimes.
“The latest national crime statistics once again show that firearms were the preferred weapon in the commission of most of the violent crime. Reducing the circulation of firearms may potentially reduce the scourge of violent crimes quite significantly.”
The police said people can hand over the unwanted firearms to the nearest police station or surrender them for renewal of a competency certificate and a valid licence.
The police said all firearms surrendered will be taken for ballistic testing, those firearms which have not been used to commit crimes would be destroyed.
