Dear firearm owner,

Whether we like it or not we are in the frontlines fighting against crime in South Africa. The quarterly figures for violent crimes show the desperate position we are in. According to the World Population Review, South Africa ranks ninth in the world when it comes to murder and robberies and fourth when it comes to rape. Even conflict areas such as Syria, Somalia and South Sudan have lower murder rates than we do.

To make things worse, police services are under severe pressure with limited resources, personnel, and funds. In some areas response times can be up to two hours or more and for that time, you are the only line of defence.

Knowing that you could very well find yourself in the traumatic position where you have to act to avoid horrible crimes against your family is hard enough. Knowing that the use of your firearm can bring about a storm that severely upends your life, is no way to live.

It is therefore essential that while you protect your family, you have a guardian looking over you, ensuring that the use of your firearm is as risk-free as possible.