The Cabinet has approved the amendment of the Firearms Act to provide for the profiling and tracing of all firearms, in response to the rising number of gun-related robberies.
During a post-Cabinet briefing on Tuesday, October 22, Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, Jenfan Muswere, announced that the Amendment Bill would also introduce regulations on the number of firearms an individual can possess, among other provisions. Said Muswere:
The amendments seek to regulate the registration and licensing of firearms, and the establishment of a firearms database and registry.
The Amendment Bill will make provision for the classification of firearms certificates to differentiate those issued to individuals and juristic persons.
The amendments will also seek, among other things to (a) introduce psychological and training tests before one is issued with a firearm certificate; (b) place an age restriction on the possession of firearms; (c) regulate the number of firearms per person; (d) provide for the profiling of all firearms for purposes of easy identification and tracing thereof; and (e) specify the penalties for firearm offences, including the failure to properly secure firearms.
In September, police issued a new firearms amnesty for illegal weapon holders and extended it to licensed holders without renewed certificates or updated addresses. By September 27, only 44 unregistered firearms had been surrendered.
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