Page 14 - Silver Lakes Issue 8_2022

SECURITY NEWS

ENSURING THE SAFETY OF ALL

ANIMALS ON THE ESTATE

e receive random complaints a slingshot, air gun or bow and arrow, even “It would, therefore, be safer to frame your
from residents, saying their though he/she need not produce a licence slingshot behind glass and hang it against
Wcat was shot and hurt, and for these items? You cannot really use self- the wall and put away your air gun in the
unfortunately in some instances, even killed defence as a reason. safe until you are able to go on your annual
with an air gun. Lately, it seems as if even farm holiday, where you can use your bow
crossbows or slingshots are being used, “An easy guideline lies within the legal and arrow, or do some target practice at a
even though our estate rules stipulate implication of any actions emanating from designated sports centre.
clearly that fauna of any nature shall not be the application of these hand-weapons.
chased, trapped, harmed or interfered with If you want to play at home, shoot birds “As for that pestering cat next door … rather
in any way whatsoever. We have done some (forbidden) or have some target practice buy a (plastic) water pistol!”
research on this topic and came across the (forbidden) and something goes wrong
following article written by Tania du Toit, (highly probable), the possibilities of Du Toit concludes by directing readers to
titled Slingshots, air guns, bows and arrows prosecution abound. Your games can land these sources for further reference:
in urban areas: you with a criminal record or even serious • Gunsite South Africa: http://www.
self-injury. An oldish slingshot’s elastic might gunsite.co.za/forums/showthread.
“Nowadays, South African legislation break, rebound and easily shoot out the php?51480-Shooting-in-residential-
regarding hand-weapons and firearms owner’s eyes or teeth … You could hit or area
is a contentious issue and leaves many maim someone (manslaughter) or even kill • Reddit South Africa: https://
(intending and existing) weapon owners hot them (murder). The SPCA could charge you www.reddit.com/r/southafrica/
under the collar, for various reasons. There should you hunt small animals, domestic comments/4lscbp/would_it_be_legal_
is quite a lot of room for interpretation or wild. Then there are all the possibilities to_own_a_crossbow_in_sa/
and application of the finer details of the of breaking windows and other claims for • SABA – South African Bow Hunters
weapons legislation. If you are therefore damages. Association: http://www.sabowhunt
thinking on the lines of target shooting ing.co.za/SABA/Asp/main.asp?page
or a slingshot adventure in a built-up or “Air guns and bows and arrows are covered in =Constitution
residential area, you should also take heed. weapons legislation, but a slingshot is at the • IOL News South Africa – “Knives out
No one may ‘just for fun’ handle slingshots, most implied in the definitions/descriptions. for criminals”: https://www.iol.co.za/
air guns or bows and arrows. Especially not Do not, therefore, rely on legislation in this news/south-africa/knives-out-for-
in urban residential areas. These items also instance, but rather on common sense and criminals-473465
have other names, as well as other kinds of ‘too late for tears’. Harm caused to people, • The Citizen – “Slingshot student back
‘innocent’ weapons for which a licence is animals and the environment by these in Durban court”: https://citizen.co.za/
not always required, but which can also put hand-weapons cannot really be deemed news/south-africa/1331532/slingshot-
you at risk of serious prosecution. accidents as the handlers thereof should student-back-durban-court/
have foreseen that they could cause damage • Juta Law – “Dangerous Weapons Act
“This article does not focus on the legislation and/or injuries on being handled. 15 of 2013”: https://www.saps.gov.
and licensing of any weapons, but rather This fact aggravates za/resource_centre/acts/downloads/
advises regarding prosecution and claims your defence in juta/2013a0015.pdf
for damages resulting from the use or a criminal case
application of ostensibly less dangerous or any submission
hand-weapons. The first important question of an insurance claim.
is why anyone would want to possess such
kind of weapon. For licensed firearms, one
may assume that the successful licensed
owner could put forward reasons such
as self-defence, hunting, game-farming,
certain kinds of sport or whatever. This
makes sense. But why would anyone living
in a (especially) built-up area want to own

12 | INTRAMUROS SEPTEMBER 2022