Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Boer, Martin. 2004 ‘Number of Firearms Possessed by a Firearm Owner.’ Hide and Seek: Taking Account of Small Arms in Southern Africa, p. 117. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies. 1 October
Relevant contents
According to Section 7 of the 1996 Arms and Ammunition Act, no person may possess more than four arms unless 'good cause' can be shown.
Willie H Brisley, the Namibian Police's Legal Officer and author of the Act, explained at the 2002 National Conference on Small Arms in Windhoek why Namibians are allowed to own four firearms each: "Namibia is a hunting destination. This was done to make provision for a firearm to hunt small game, one to hunt bigger game, one to hunt (sic) and one hand weapon."(6) But the reality is that many people may own more than four firearms, because firearm licences that were issued before the 1996 Act were automatically renewed after 1996, and the police experience difficulty in checking the number of firearm licences owned by individuals as a result of shortcomings in the record-keeping system.
There is an active community of collectors who specialise in military collectibles. Colonel Des Radmore, President of the Militaria, Firearms & Ammunition Collectors Society of Namibia, says that the firearm collections of some of the members include hundreds of firearms.(7) Collectors must be registered as such with the police, and by law are prohibited from discharging any of the weapons from their collections.
Sources:
6) SaferAfrica and Saferworld, op cit.
7) Martin Boer, interview with Colonel D W J Radmore, Military, Security and Explosives Consultant, Institute for Public Policy Research, Windhoek, 20 October 2003.
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http://www.issafrica.org/pubs/Books/Hide+Seek/Contents.htm