In South Africa, Women Turn to Firearms For Protection
Crime rates in Johannesburg, South Africa, have pushed women to own firearms for protection. The South African Police Service (SAPS) announced quarterly crime statistics in November of last year, and they showed that between July and September of 2022, over 13,000 women were assaulted with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
There were 989 homicides, 1277 attempted murders, and 10,000 rapes in that time frame. It has been reported that in the 2020/21 fiscal year, the Central Firearms Registry issued approximately 143,000 new licenses.
According to Norma Thorsen, administrator of Tactical HQ, an impressive number of women are opting to become legally armed.
"Women are tired of being victims, of feeling unsafe and helpless in the light of the crime statistics and the inability of the police to protect them. The only difference between a woman with a firearm and a woman with a panic button for armed response is the time it takes to respond. Both of them rely on a firearm to save them,” she explained.
Thorsen entered the firearms industry in 2014 and has been teaching others since 2016. Being a professional in the firearms industry, she takes pride in helping her customers become more knowledgeable and safe gun owners.
She urged would-be female gun owners to remember that they have a constitutionally protected right to be safe from all forms of violence and that, if the government fails to protect them, it is their responsibility to do so.
According to Thorsen, this isn't a backwards step because it protects women from becoming targets of crime. She went on to explain that armed South African women who band together could deter criminals and protect their families.
Despite Thorsen's claim that female gun ownership has increased at Tactical HQ, the SAPS's Enhance Firearm Registration System (EFRS) does not divide its database of firearms by demographic factors like gender, race, or age. However, improvements to the system are currently underway to make this data available soon.
According to Athlenda Mathe, a spokesperson for the South African Police Service (SAPS), 4,204 illegal firearms were seized in the 2019/2020 fiscal year. Another 2,035 in the upcoming fiscal year of 2022/2021, and around 3,210 in the upcoming fiscal year of 2021/2022.
Tshepi Mmekwa, a resident of Johannesburg, is just one of the many women who has found safety and security in owning a gun. She said that owning a gun makes her feel like she has leveled the playing field and gives her a greater chance of escaping life-threatening situations, despite the fact that she enjoys sports shooting and the sheer discipline it instills in one when handling firearms.
“As a South African woman, you can never relax and feel safe. I am always guarded. The crime levels in this country are far too high, and I am a woman with two kids and a husband, so protecting myself and those I love is paramount,” Mmekwa said.
Mmekwa claimed that in 2022, before she was issued a gun license, she joined a gun club where she learned how to safely operate a firearm, when to use it, and what to do in a potentially violent situation. Fortunately, she has not yet been in a situation where she has had to use her gun to defend herself from an assailant.
She said, "As a firearm owner, you pray you never have to, as this would mean the possibility of injuring a person or ending a life."
Mmekwa claims that the most common misconception about gun safety is that one should handle a gun in the same way as it is portrayed in films, especially by characters who are meant to be criminals.