NHSA Newsletter

VOL. 11 (24) - 18-12-2015

RENEWAL OF FIREARM LICENCES: PROOF OF USE OF FIREARM FOR PURPOSES INDICATED IN ORIGINAL LICENCE APPLICATION

Section 24 of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act 60 of 2000 as amended) stipulate the following re renewal of firearm licences:

24 Renewal of firearm licences

(1)           The holder of a licence issued in terms of this Chapter who wishes to renew the licence must at least 90 days before the date of expiry of the licence apply to the Registrar for its renewal.

(2)           The application must be-

(a)           accompanied by such information as may be prescribed; and

(b)           delivered to the Designated Firearms Officer responsible for the area in which the applicant ordinarily resides or in which the applicant`s business is, as the case may be.

(3)           No application for the renewal of a licence may be granted unless the applicant shows that he or she has continued to comply with the requirements for the licence in terms of this Act.

(4)       If an application for the renewal of a licence has been lodged within the period provided for in subsection (1), the licence remains valid until the application is decided.

Your attention is specifically drawn to Section 24(1) and 24(4).

Section 24(3) is interpreted to mean that you have to show regular use of especially your hunting and sport shooting firearm(s) in line with the intended purpose of use, as was stipulated in the motivation for the original licence application.

For self defence firearms (Section 13 licences) a fresh motivation is needed which again explains the need for a firearm for self protection as last resort (hopefully one cannot prove regular use here).

It is for exactly this reason the NSA has developed the electronic scores and activities reporting system, so that members can download an official scores & activities report from their certificates page if and when they would need same for renewal of licences (or for application for new licences in order to prove participation).

Please do not slip here as it is easy for SAPS (CFR) to deny the re-issue of a firearm licence if the applicant cannot show regular use of the specific firearm over time, or of regular participation in sport shooting activities with the firearm over time.

Regular use of a firearm probably will mean that you prove at least three shoots per annum with a sport shooting firearm (target shotin, NSA postals, reloading and load devlopment will probably count here)

For a hunting firearm regular use will probably be adequate if one hunt per annum can be sown (due to expenses) with the spoecific firearm, or target shooting with the firearm or reloading and load development specifically for that firearm.

We still advise that members apply for endorsements on their personal Natshoot web pages for all licence applications - be that for new licences or for renewals of licences

Kind regards

Herman Els