Gun Free SA raises alarm after confiscation of pistol modified into fully-automatic firearm

CAPE TOWN - Gun Free South Africa (SA) has raised the alarm after metro police confiscated a firearm that was modified to a fully automatic weapon in Hanover Park on the Cape Flats.
 
Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the city's ShotSpotter detection system identified gunfire in the area late on Tuesday night.
 
He said after informing the South African Police Service, metro police pursued a suspect who was found in possession of a glock pistol with an extended high-capacity magazine.
 
Smith said the firearm had been modified to become a fully automatic weapon.

Gun Free SA director Adele Kirsten said while semi-automatic firearms are legal to own, it is against the law to own an automatic firearm in South Africa.

"The conversion of a pistol into a fully automatic firearm is very alarming, particularly in the context of such high levels of gun violence in South Africa."

Kirsten said Gun Free SA cannot confirm whether such modifications are common in South Africa, but it has noted a change in the pattern of gun violence in the country.

"This is what we call multiple victims sustaining multiple shots, so what this would suggest is that fully automatics are being used in these kinds of shootings."

Kirsten said the government must urgently address the easy access that criminals have to guns in South Africa.