Delay in firearms licenses
[{“type”:”text”,”content”:”It was noted that before application can be made for a license, the firearm owner must have a valid competency certificate. In some instances, an application for a competency certificate must be made simultaneously with the application for renewal of a license. In such instance the police will first process the renewal of the competency application, which must be issued before the renewal of the license application can be processed. On average, the renewal of competency now takes approximately a year. nnThe license application for firearms surrendered under amnesty during the amnesty periods are considered as renewal of a license, which is approved at provincial level (not by the Central Firearms Registry). The long time taken for processing these applications is largely attributed to a lack of resources in the police to complete the required ballistic testing on amnesty firearms. According to information from the police, no firearms surrendered under amnesty and tested ballistically has yet been linked to any criminal offence. nnLicense applications submitted during the previous amnesty that ended in May 2020 are now starting to come through. At the end of September 2021, most police stations did not yet start capturing or processing license applications for firearms surrendered under the amnesty that ended in 2021.”,”position”:0,”id”:”rzqLjffKJiYNyaY2″}]