Last night a child was killed (The third in the month of June in South Africa) by an owner of a licensed firearm in Parkmore. Once again, the spotlight will be focused on Firearms Laws in South Africa. Questions like 'is the Firearms Control Act tight enough' are bound to be asked. My focus is on a person who is informed of a child screaming, runs to get a gun, aims in the direction of the screams (THE CHILD) and fires from inside a house, through the window and kills a child!! I don't care how threatened the area of Parkmore is by crime, the act described above is  one of Cowardice, Stupidity, Incompetence in handling a weapon and displays a huge disregard for human life. E-mail your comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

One can understand that in an area like Parkmore which has been described as 'under siege' by criminals, residents of the area would feel wary, cautious, fearful and even terrorized. This would explain the high walls, razor wire and electric fencing which is evident in the Parkmore area. However, firing in the direction of a screaming child (which is how the grandmother of the child described the shooting) from within a locked house and through a window, falls within a category of cowardice which is indescribable.

News reports have alluded to the fact that a house next door was broken into or robbed on the same afternoon, so again it is understandable that this man  was perhaps a little fearful, but what FREAKS ME OUT is that in his total fear he forgot  a child screaming for help, locked the doors and fired through a closed window in the direction of the THE CHILD. Had he locked the doors, phoned the cops and waited for assistance, although my respect would not have been gained, a child might still be alive for a grandmother to nurture.

I have never before had a vote for or against a Guns Free South Africa, but now I do. Three children dead in one month by the hand of licensed firearm owners? It's just not on. Until such time as we can be certain (which will be when?) firearm owners are fit and trained to carry firearms, my vote is against firearms and for a Guns Free South Africa. I'm not sure that I will ever be convinced that anyone can regulate or even predict how another person will react in a situation where they feel threratened, either real or imagined.

This was no accident. This was an indescribable act of stupidity and extreme cowardice. Your comments to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it (Your comments will be published if suitable for publication)

Craig Nuttley (Oink Midrand)