OPINION PIECE
By the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety:
Dr Bandile Masuku
20 July 2026
CAN SOUTH AFRICA BECOME A GUN-FREE SOCIETY? LESSONS FROM JAPAN
Every day, South Africans wake up to headlines of lives cut short by bullets. Families are torn apart, communities live in fear and the sound of gunfire has become an all too familiar reminder of the violence that continues to plague our country. Nowhere is this challenge more apparent than in Gauteng, where gun-related crimes remain a significant contributor to murders, robberies, taxi violence, organised crime and gender-based violence.
It does not have to be this way.
As the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety recently concluded an official study tour to Japan, one lesson stood out above all others, “a safer society is possible when access to firearms is treated as an exception rather than a right”.
During our engagement with the Japan National Police Agency, the Committee gained an in-depth understanding of one of the world’s most effective policing systems. The purpose of our visit was to critically assess international best practices that could strengthen oversight and improve community safety in Gauteng.
Japan offers an extraordinary example.
It is one of the most gun restricted countries in the world. Private citizens have no legal right to own firearms as a matter of course. Handguns and assault rifles are prohibited for civilians, while obtaining the few firearms that are legally permitted involves one of the most rigorous licensing processes anywhere in the world. Background investigations, psychological assessments, extensive training, secure storage requirements and continuous monitoring form part of an uncompromising regulatory system.
The outcome is undeniable.
Gun-related violence in Japan is exceptionally rare. Firearm homicides remain among the lowest globally and many police officers complete entire careers without ever discharging their service weapons. Even during many public order operations, police officers rely primarily on communication, discipline, tactical planning and specialised crowd management techniques rather than firearms. Their training places significant emphasis on martial arts such as Judo and Kendo, reinforcing restraint, discipline, confidence and proportionate use of force.
This is not merely a policing success story. It is a societal success story.
South Africa’s circumstances are undoubtedly different. Our history, levels of inequality, organised criminal networks and socio-economic realities present challenges that Japan does not face to the same extent. Any attempt to compare the two countries without acknowledging these differences would be simplistic.
However, acknowledging our differences should never become an excuse for resisting meaningful reform.
Japan demonstrates that strict firearm regulation, combined with effective law enforcement and strong public trust in institutions, can dramatically reduce gun violence. While South Africa may not replicate Japan’s model in its entirety, there are valuable lessons that deserve serious national consideration.
We must ask ourselves difficult questions.
Should firearms be as accessible as they currently are? Are existing firearm licensing systems sufficiently rigorous? Are enough illegal firearms being removed from our communities? Are we doing enough to prevent state owned firearms from entering criminal hands? How can we strengthen intelligence led policing to dismantle illegal firearm trafficking networks?
These are questions that require political courage rather than political convenience.
Reducing gun violence cannot rest solely on policing. It demands stronger firearm regulation, more effective border security to combat illicit arms trafficking, tougher action against corruption, better destruction of confiscated firearms, improved investigative capacity and sustained community partnerships that reject the normalisation of guns as instruments of protection or conflict resolution.
The Portfolio Committee has consistently championed the vision of a Gun-Free Gauteng because every illegal firearm removed from our streets represents lives potentially saved. Every firearm prevented from reaching criminals is a family spared unimaginable grief.
Our visit to Japan reaffirmed that creating safer communities is not an impossible dream. It is the product of deliberate policy choices, effective institutions and a shared commitment to placing human life above the widespread availability of weapons.
South Africa deserves communities where children can walk to school without fear of crossfire, where women need not fear armed perpetrators, where businesses can thrive without constant threat of violent robbery and where police officers spend more time preventing crime than responding to shootings.
A nation should never measure its strength by the number of guns in civilian hands, but by the safety and dignity enjoyed by its people.
Japan has shown that another path is possible.
The question is whether South Africa is prepared to walk it.
GAUTENG PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE
