Guns and gun control in South Africa : a case study of fatal gun use in metropolitan Cape Town, 1984-1991, with a critical examination of broader issues

Since the election of the new government in South Africa in 1994, a process of reconstructing and prioritising social problems has been underway in which firearms have been afforded prominence. A 'gun problem' has been constructed based on the traditional premise that illegal private possession is the issue and most interventions have targeted the reduction of unlicensed guns. However, despite more than 35 years of research worldwide, this foundational premise lacks empirical support. Moreover relevant work on South Africa has been scarce. Utilising this as the basic assumption of a contemporary conception of the 'gun problem' would thus seem unwise. Hence an alternate approach was adopted, starting with the question of whether guns were actually problematic in this context. A case study was conducted using a complete sample (1555) of fatal shootings in metropolitan Cape Town from 1984 to 1991. The overall aim was to paint a comprehensive picture of lethal gun use that would enable the identification and prioritising of problems, and the shaping of interventions. A pencil-and-paper device was constructed to extract information from mortuary registers, inquest and criminal court records. Variables included characteristics of victims, shooters, circumstances, weapons, injuries, and the legal process. Specific attention was paid to restraint in homicides; various indicators were used to •measure levels of minimum force and proportionality. The data were transferred into a customised computer database for analysis. Statistical significance was assessed using chi-square tests and the analysis of standardised residuals for selected single and cross-tabulated variables.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Hansson, Desirée

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Foster, Don
• Van Zyl Smit, Dirk

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9578

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9578