Tomorrow the IRR will be hosting a discussion on Guns & Liberty

A new Institute of Race Relations (IRR) report exposing gaping holes in the arguments for taking away the gun-owning rights of law-abiding citizens will be the subject of a livestream discussion hosted by the IRR tomorrow evening.

The report, ‘Don’t Add Chaos to Order: exposing the weakness of key civilian disarmament arguments’ [https://irr.org.za/reports/occasional-reports/dont-add-chaos-to-disorder-exposing-the-weakness-of-key-civilian-disarmament-arguments], by senior IRR analyst Nicholas Lorimer, was presented by IRR CEO Dr Frans Cronje at the Gun Summit organised by the Democratic Alliance yesterday.

The report, and tomorrow’s livestream discussion, arise from the Firearms Control Amendment Bill, now before Parliament.

The Bill threatens to take away the right of South Africans to legally carry firearms for self-defence. The IRR has launched a campaign to resist this dilution of citizens’ rights, which has already garnered more than 20 000 endorsements. (Learn more about the campaign here: https://irr.org.za/campaigns/stop-citizen-abuse-banning-firearms-self-defence).
 
Tomorrow’s discussion on Guns and Liberty will focus on civilian disarmament arguments, the right to self-defence, and how outlawing gun-ownership for self-defence will effectively strip citizens of the right to defend themselves and their property.

This misguided effort is justified by the state as a measure intended to make South Africa safer. Ironically, it will likely make South Africa less safe, as criminals will still have access to firearms of all kinds.

While they are willing to expose citizens to greater vulnerability in an environment of high rates of violent crime, politicians backing the bill have chosen to beef up their own security by increasing the budget for the VIP Protection Services to R3.232 billion.

It is high time the government stopped abusing law-abiding citizens by tampering with their rights.

IRR Head of Campaigns Gabriel Crouse will host tomorrow’s discussion with guests Paul Oxley, chairman of Guns Owners South Africa, Tshepi Mmekwa, an advocate for women’s gun rights, Andrew Soutar, gun rights activist, and Jonathan Fouché, chairman of the South African Arms and Ammunition Dealers' Association.

To read the full report on Civilian Disarmament, go to: https://irr.org.za/reports/occasional-reports/dont-add-chaos-to-disorder-exposing-the-weakness-of-key-civilian-disarmament-arguments.
 
Details of tomorrow’s livestream discussion:
Date: Thursday 24 June
Time: 7pm
Platform: go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN0SHqzVFtQ

 
Media contacts: Gabriel Crouse, IRR Head of Campaigns – 082 510 0360; gabriel@irr.org.za
Duwayne Esau, IRR Campaign Officer – 081 700 0302; duwayne@irr.org.za
Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za
Kelebogile Leepile Tel: 079 051 0073 Email: kelebogile@irr.org.za