Gun Free SA says stronger gun laws led to murder rate dropping in decade to 2010
Between 18 and 21 of the 52 South Africans murdered per day are killed with guns. This is according to nonprofit Gun Free SA (GFSA). The police service released its annual crime statistics on Tuesday‚ documenting the period from April 2016 to March 2017. The murder rate rose 1.8%‚ with 19‚016 people killed. Attempted murder rose 0.4% to about 50 per day (18‚205) while robberies with aggravating circumstances increased by 6.4%. These are crimes commonly committed with guns. Gun Free SA said according to research by the Medical Research Council‚ the murder rate dropped between 2000 and 2010 due to stronger gun laws‚ before the trend started to reverse in 2012. They believe it was due a "breakdown" of the firearms control management system since 2012‚ which has led to fraud and corruption in the licensing of guns. "This is best demonstrated by the sentencing to 18 years [in prison] of Christiaan Prinsloo‚ a senior police officer‚ for selling 2‚400 confiscated and surrendered guns ‘dest...
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