The Rhodes University Rifle Club is facing an uncertain future as new firearm regulations come into effect.
The Rhodes University Rifle Club is facing an uncertain future as new firearm regulations come into effect.
“We don’t know if the club is going to exist next year,” said Anneke de Bruyn, chairperson of the Rifle Club. “It’s all so grim.”
The new Firearms Control Act, which came into effect on 30 June this year, is aimed at ensuring that only responsible, competent people obtain firearms. It requires gun owners to re-licence their firearms and anyone who uses or owns a firearm also has to apply for a competency certificate, which costs more than R500.
This could make it prohibitively expensive to become a member of the local Rifle Club and de Bruyn is worried that membership might dry up completely if the club has to raise its fees. Because of this, the club is currently considering seeking sponsorship to pay for the certificates.
De Bruyn says that only committee members and the 15 top shooters in the club will be able to obtain competency certificates due to the high costs involved. Although the club’s rifles are undergoing registration, none of the members have been furnished with a competency certificate yet.
The new laws also mean that events like inter-res shooting will be cancelled and students will not be allowed to try out rifle shooting without the necessary papers.
Guy Gordon, Sports Officer at the Rhodes University Sports Administration, described the situation as “very, very tricky”.
“The students at the moment can shoot,” he said, and is guardedly optimistic about the future. “I don’t doubt that the club will still be there next year,” he said.
Prof Ray Haggard, chairman of the South African Target Rifle Association (Satra), is also confident that the Rifle Club will continue to exist next year, but possibly with fewer members. “The whole purpose of the new regulations is to restrict numbers,” he said.
