Chapter 7

WEAPONS

The aim of this section is to provide a profile of the firearms in the possession of victims and offenders across crime types. Such information can lead to a better understanding of firearm-related crime. Firstly, knowing which weapon is used in an incident is useful. Secondly, an understanding of the dynamics of firearm-related crime provides insight based on which relevant crime prevention strategies may be designed and implemented. Thirdly, an exploration of the relationship between the type of firearm and the crime is of significance.

Crimes committed with firearms are markedly different from those committed with other weapons or instruments, such as knives, fists, clubs, and others. An offender with a firearm does not need to be in close proximity of his/her victim to commit a crime. The offender may threaten or intimidate the victim from a safe distance, in this way ensuring compliance. Offenders with other weapons (such as those mentioned above) need to be within the immediate proximity of their victims to achieve similar compliance. In comparison with other weapons, the impact of a firearm is greater, affecting more than just its immediate area, while there is a heightened chance of unpremeditated consequences as a result. For example, a stray bullet can injure a person at some distance from the actual criminal incident.

In the docket survey, every attempt was made to collect a comprehensive list of descriptive information on firearms used in the incidents, but the information was not always available in the docket. The information that the survey aimed to collect included the following:

type of weapon used;

whether or not a firearm was present;

type of firearm used;

calibre of firearm;

make of firearm; and

licence condition or status of firearm.

Limitations of the data

The main limitation of the data results from the absence of much of the required information in the police dockets, and more specifically, certain types of information. However, given the fact that details are often unknown when a crime is reported, this was to be expected.

It was found that some of the information was superfluous, in terms of its analytic contribution to the understanding of firearm-related crime, while other information proved of greater value. The information provided on the type of firearm and whether it was licenced was extremely useful, while the information on the type of action, calibre and make of firearm was of less significance. The latter type of information needs to be assessed critically in terms of its usefulness for understanding firearm-related crime. It is unlikely that criminals in South Africa choose the type of firearm they use in crime, either in terms of make or calibre. It is more likely that they use whatever firearm is accessible to them.

Further research into the proportion of firearm use in relation to overall weapons use would also provide valuable insight into the role of firearms in perpetrating crime.

Table 32: Total number and proportion of weapons involved in incidents
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Possession /use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Other weapons (eg knife, panga) (n)	21	33	6	2	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Other weapons (%)	2.9	11.7	2.2	1.6	1.4	0	0.5	1.7	0	0	0	0
Firearms (n)	328	119	127	68	103	63	106	37	24	20	19	8
Firearms (%)	45.3	42	45.5	45.9	49.8	67.7	50.1	62.7	57.1	51.3	100	72.7
No weapons	375	131	146	78	101	30	103	21	18	19	0	3
No weapons (%)	51.8	46.3	52.3	52.7	48.8	32.3	49	35.6	42.9	48.7	0	27.3
Total n	724	283	279	148	207	93	210	59	42	39	19	11
Total %	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
People involved (n)	724	283	279	148	207	9314	210	59	42	39	19	11

Number of weapons involved in the incident

It was often felt that all the relevant information about all the weapons used in the incident was not recorded in the docket. For example, it often occurred that only those weapons that were actually actively used in the incident and were identified or seized as evidence were mentioned. Yet, the nature of the crime would suggest that, the other offenders had also frequently been in possession of weapons, thus enabling them to obtain compliance from their victims. The table below outlines the total number of weapons involved in an incident.

Table 33: Number of weapons in possession of victims, offenders and other intervening parties
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Possession/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Offender
Other weapons (eg knife, panga)	21	32	6	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Firearms	290	45	114	55	77	7	88	22	19	17	6	6
No weapons	144	102	70	15	22	26	18	4	10	2	0	0
Total	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6
Victim
Other
weapons	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Firearms	34	72	13	9	14	56	15	13	4	2	13	1
No weapons	233	28	76	63	88	4	84	15	2	17	0	3
Total	267	101	89	73	103	60	99	29	6	19	13	4
Other
Other weapons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Firearms	1	2	0	4	1	0	3	2	1	0	0	1
No weapons	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	6	1	0	0
Total	2	3	0	4	3	0	4	4	7	1	0	1
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
People (n)	724	283	279	148	207	93	210	59	42	39	19	11

Since it was difficult to ascertain why there were omissions in the dockets in terms of the weapon used, it was assumed that no weapon was used. There is a high probability that offenders in these cases, in actual fact, did not carry a weapon and that no information was contained in the docket for this reason.

The information on weapons proves more significant when stratified by the profile of the victim in terms of the type of weapon in the possession of victims, offenders and intervening third parties (as indicated in table 33).

Weapon used by offender

Proportion of offenders using a weapon

The survey methodology required that only firearm-related dockets should be selected. It was interesting that very few other types of weapons were used in combination with firearms. It was only in 4.7% of the armed robberies and 7.2% of the common robberies that other weapons featured.

The relatively high proportion of offenders who were without a weapon in two firearm-related crimes helped to distinguish them from the others. It was found that 57% of offenders involved in common robberies and 81.8% involved in firearm theft had no weapon during the crime. Both of these crime types rely on surprise and opportunity-based techniques.

In a consideration of crimes of a similar nature, a comparison of the level of firearm possession across crime types is significant. For instance, it was found that the level of firearm possession among offenders was higher in murders (74.6%) than in attempted murders (64.4%). The level of firearm possession among offenders proved to be slightly higher in armed robberies (61.6%) than in hijacking incidents (58.4%).

The proportion of offenders with firearms differed across crime type. In the negligent loss of a firearm (100%) and the illegal discharge of a firearm in a built-up or public place (100%), all offenders were armed. Even though the sample was very small in these cases, such crimes are by definition dependent upon the use of a firearm.

Table 34: Proportion of weapons used by offender by crime type
Type	Armed robbery	Com-mon robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Pointing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Other weapons (eg knife, panga)	21	32	6	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Other weapons (%)	4.6	17.9	3.2	1.4	2	0	0.9	0	0	0	0	0
Firearms	290	45	114	55	77	7	88	22	19	17	6	6
Firearms (%)	63.7	25.1	60	77.5	76.2	21.2	82.2	84.6	65.5	89.5	100	100
No weapons	144	102	70	15	22	26	18	4	10	2	0	0
No weapons (%)	31.6	57	36.8	21.1	21.8	78.8	16.8	15.4	34.5	10.5	0	0
Total n	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6
Total %	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Offenders (n)	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6

Type of weapons used by offenders

A range of firearms were used by offenders. These included handguns, shotguns, bolt-action rifles, semi-automatic rifles, automatic rifles, homemade firearms and toy firearms converted to work as firearms. In addition, crimes were committed with firearms that did not actually have the ability to shoot a projectile, but were used to commit crimes because of their close resemblance to a real firearm.

The range of other weapons included knobkieries and other blunt objects, as well as hand-grenades, knives, pangas and other sharp objects.

Type of firearm possessed by offenders

Handguns were the most commonly used firearms across all crime types. Two types of handguns were used: pistols and revolvers.

Table 35: Proportion of different weapons in possession of offenders
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Handgun	91.2	55.8	88.1	98.1	92.5	100	94	90.9	73.7	93.8	100	100
Shotgun	0.3	0	0	0	3	0	2.4	4.5	0	0	0	0
Bolt-action rifle	0.3	2.6	1.7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Semi-automatic	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	0	0	0	0	0
Automatic rifle	0	0	4.2	0	0	0	0	4.5	5.3	6.25	0	0
Homemade firearm	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.1	0	0	0
Toy-firearm converted	0.3	0	0	0	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Replica firearm	0.7	0	0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Toy firearm	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.2	0	0	0	0	0
Knobkierie	0	2.6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other blunt object	0	1.3	0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hand grenade	0	0	0	0	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Knife, panga	7.1	35.1	4.2	1.9	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other sharp object	0	2.6	0	0	0	0	1.2	0	0	0	0	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Offenders (n)	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6
Weapons (n)	311	77	120	56	79	7	89	22	19	17	6	6
Responses (n)	297	77	118	54	67	6	83	22	19	16	6	6

Table 36: Proportion of firearm types in possession of offender
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Pistol	84.7	97.1	85.5	76.7	78.8	66.7	76.3	75	64.7	72.7	100	83.3
Revolver	14.8	2.9	7.2	20.9	15.2	33.3	18.6	20	11.8	18.2	0	16.7
Shotgun	0.6	0	1.2	2.3	6.1	0	3.4	0	11.8	0	0	0
Rifle	0	0	6	0	0	0	1.7	5	5.9	9.1	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.9	0	0	0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Offenders (n)	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6
Weapons (n)	311	77	120	56	79	7	89	22	19	17	6	6
Responses (n)	176	34	83	43	33	6	59	20	17	11	6	6

Table 37: Calibre of firearms used by offenders across all crime types
Calibre	Number of responses	Percentage
9 mm	74	50
.38 Special	27	18.2
7.65	19	12.9
0.375	7	4.7
.45 Auto	6	4.1
7.62	5	3.4
0.22	3	2
12 Gauge	3	2
5.56	2	1.4
6.35	1	0.7
0.32	1	0.7
Total	148	100

Table 38: Licenced and unlicenced firearms used by offenders (percentage)
Status	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempt-ed murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Neg-ligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Licenced	1.7	6.7	0.9	40	15.6	42.9	23.9	77.3	10.5	5.9	100	83.3
Unlicenced	98.3	93.3	99.1	60	84.4	57.1	76.1	22.7	89.5	94.1	0	16.7
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Offenders (n)	455	179	190	71	101	33	107	26	29	19	6	6
Firearms (n)	290	45	114	55	77	7	88	22	19	17	6	6

Calibre of offender firearms

Survey results on the calibre of a firearm were strongly influenced by the fact that handguns were the most commonly used in crimes. The most available and preferred handgun calibre in use are the 9 mm, 7.65 mm and .38 Special calibre. The tables reflecting the calibre of weapons show consolidated information for all crime types, as a result of insufficient data.

Make of offenders’ firearms

Although information was gathered on the make of offenders’ firearms, it was extremely unreliable. Over 33 different makes of firearms were recorded and the make of the firearm was listed in 128 of the 746 firearms dockets recording the possession of firearms by offenders.

Licence status of offenders’ firearms

Due to the fact that, in most cases, information on whether or not a firearm was licenced was absent, it is difficult to make conclusions about the licencing of firearms used by offenders. It is probable that offenders mainly do not use licenced firearms, as this would increase their chances of being prosecuted. For example, offenders would make use of unlicenced firearms or firearms not licenced to them personally as it is easier to get rid of such a firearm. If a firearm is recovered, tracing it to the guilty person would also be very difficult, if not impossible.

Table 39: Proportion of weapons used by victims by crime type
Status	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Pointing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Other weapons (eg knife, panga)	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Other weapons (%)	0	1	0	1.4	1	0	0	3.4	0	0	0	0
Firearms	34	72	13	9	14	56	15	13	4	2	13	1
Firearms (%)	12.7	71.3	14.6	12.3	13.6	93.3	15.2	44.8	66.7	10.5	100	25
No weapons	233	28	76	63	88	4	84	15	2	17	0	3
No weapons (%)	87.3	27.7	85.4	86.3	85.4	6.7	84.8	51.7	33.3	89.5	0	75
Total	267	101	89	73	103	60	99	29	6	19	13	4
Total %	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Victims (n)	267	101	89	73	103	60	99	29	6	19	13	4

Weapons used by victims

Proportion of weapons used by victims

Overall, victims had a smaller range of weapons in their possession. Most victims were not in possession of a weapon. The largest category of unarmed victims included armed robbery victims (85.3%), murder victims (83.3%), hijacking victims (81.7%), and victims of incidents where a firearm was pointed (80.5%). The smallest category of unarmed victims were those subjected to common robbery (32.8%) and the theft of a firearm (7.4%).

Type of weapons in victims’ possession

Usually, the type of weapon in the possession of the victim was a pistol or a revolver. There were also a few shotguns in the possession of victims.

Table 40: Types of weapons in possession of victims (count)
Type	Armed robbery	Com-mon robbery	Hi-jacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Point-ing a firearm	Dis-charging a firearm in built-up place	Pos-session of illegal firearm	Assault	Negligent loss of firearm	Pos-session/ use of firearm under influence of alcohol
Handgun	25	38	8	7	11	25	11	11	2	1	7	1
Shotgun	2	2	2	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0
Service pistol	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
Knife/panga	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	27	41	11	8	13	25	15	13	4	1	7	1
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92	32	17	18	6	7
Victims (n)	267	101	89	73	103	60	99	29	6	19	13	4
Firearms (n)	34	73	13	10	15	56	15	14	4	2	13	1
Responses (n)	27	41	11	8	13	25	15	13	4	1	7	1

Table 41: Types of firearms in possession of victims (count)
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hijacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Pointing a firearm
Pistol	24	52	9	8	9	39	7
Revolver	6	15	0	0	0	15	4
Shotgun	1	3	1	0	0	1	0
Total	31	70	10	8	9	55	11

Type of firearms in victims’ possession

There were three types of firearms in the possession of victims, including pistols, revolvers and shotguns.

Calibre of victims’ firearms

There was a range of different calibre weapons in possession of the victims.

In the tables presented on the calibre and make of the offender’s weapon, the consolidated information shows only the total for all crimes analysed, as a result of insufficient data.

Table 42: Calibre of victims’ firearms across all crime types
Calibre	Number of responses	Percentage
9 mm	89	53.3
.38 Special	29	17.4
7.65	22	13.2
6.35	8	4.8
.45 Auto	4	2.4
12 Gauge	3	1.8
0.22	2	1.2
7.62	1	0.6
0.32	1	0.6
0.375		4.8
Total	167	100

Make of victims’ firearms

Victims had a number of different makes of weapons in their possession. There were 31 different makes of firearms recorded in 145 surveys.

Licence status of victims’ firearms

A greater proportion of victims’ firearms were licenced, than was the case with offenders’ firearms.

Table 43: Victims with licenced firearms (percentage)
Type	Armed robbery	Common robbery	Hijacking	Murder	Attempted murder	Theft of firearm	Pointing a firearm
Licenced	52.9	87.7	53.8	55.6	26.7	92.9	26.7
Unlicenced	47.1	12.3	46.2	44.4	73.3	7.1	73.3
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Cases (n)	223	87	80	57	93	63	92
Victims (n)	267	101	89	73	103	60	99
Firearms (n)	34	73	13	9	15	56	15