Hundred people have won firearm licence permits from the 2011 Arms Quota Board raffle draw that was held in Gaborone today (04/08/2011).
Of the successful applications 50 were for rifles and the other 50 for shotguns. A total of 21 971 applications for rifle licences and 11 777 for shot gun licenses were received by the police for the 2011 raffle draw.
Speaking at the raffle draw, the Deputy Commissioner of Police Support Services, Mr Ikwatlhaeng Bagopi advised successful applicants to exercise care in handling their acquired firearms to prevent them from falling in wrong hands.
He said that the increase in the number of reported stolen firearms is of great concern in the country as some of the stolen weapons end up being used in the commission of various criminal acts, a situation he said called on them to ensure safe custody of their weapons.
Police statistics indicate that at least 35 licensed firearms were reported stolen since the beginning of 2010 to July this year (2011).
Mr Bagopi said in an endeavour to control proliferation of firearms Botswana has signed a number of International and regional protocols and agreements on Small Arms and Light Weapons and also participated in several forums in which issues pertaining to firearms administration and management are discussed.
Furthermore the government has also adopted the raffle draw system that has as a clear criteria of determining on who should or should not own a firearm.
For her part the Acting Officer In-charge of the Botswana Police Central Arms Registry, Senior Superintendent Grace Raditlhalo advised winners to consider the permit’s validity period as the permits are not renewable. She stated that any permit that is not fully processed within 12 months will be rendered invalid.
Names of the successful applicants will be published in the media.