GunFree South Africa is appealing for tighter gun control laws following the release of the latest crime statistics.
The lobby group said gun-related crime had significantly increased from 23 people killed per day in 2021/22 to 31 per day in 2022/23.
GFSA's Adèle Kirsten said most gun crimes were committed with illegal guns.
“What is being done to recover and destroy illegal guns and ammunition? GFSA has repeatedly called for specialised firearms units to be established to undertake the task of recovery and destruction as ordinary SAPS members don’t have the skills and capacity to undertake this task,” Kirsten said.
She added that most, if not all illegal guns in the country were once legally owned before falling into the hands of criminals.
“The government needs to tighten controls over legal guns to stop them from falling into criminal hands,” she said.
Kirsten said the Central Firearms Registry was the cornerstone of gun control as it was where records were kept, giving the state access to information on who owned firearms.
GFSA has raised questions about the awarding of a tender for the Central Firearms Registry and questioned the tabling of the Firearms Control Amendment Bill.
This week, SAPS Minister Bheki Cele announced that more than 6 200 people had been killed in the past three months, 200 more than in the previous period.
There was an increase in violent crime; armed robberies, hijackings and cash heists.
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