Law, Democracy 
&  Development

Law, Democracy 
&  Development

JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF LAW | UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE

Welcome

Democracy, good governance, human rights and socio-economic development are critical matters for South Africa and Africa as a whole. Our aim is to provide a forum where scholars, practitioners and policy-makers can debate the issues surrounding them and, in doing so, contribute to shared knowledge and insight.

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The LDD site is undergoing a maintenance upgrade. During this time, some of our functionality may be curtailed.

However, authors may continue to use our temporary site to submit articles, and our full repostitory of publications remains available here.

In the sp​otlight

Disarming the dispirited South African: A critical analysis of the proposed ban on firearms for self-defence

By Windell Nortje and Shane Hull

In South Africa, owning a firearm is a privilege and not a right. This privilege is regulated by the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000. In May 2021, the Minister of Police published the Firearms Control Amendment Bill (FCAB), 2021, which contains a section prohibiting individuals from obtaining a firearm for self-defence purposes.

This article challenges this view and argues that firearm owners should not be banned from protecting their right to life with a firearm.

Recently published 

Founded in 1997

Peer-reviewed

Accredited with DHET

Electronic open access

LDD reader guidelines

Law, Democracy & Development (LDD) is an accredited journal - that is, approved by the Department of Education for the publication of subsidised research output. This means that the articles we publish are subject to stringent quality control. All articles, unless otherwise indicated, are peer-reviewed - that is, anonymously assessed by independent experts. In addition, we also publish reviews, commentaries or other contributions which the editors consider topical or important but which have not been subjected to the formal assessment process - for example, contributions by emerging researchers (such as those in our ALAD section), keynote speeches by leading commentators and the like. These non-refereed items are identified as Forum contributions.

LDD is an open-access journal. This means that copyright in all published material remains vested in the author thereof, but the author grants permission for the material to be made available freely on LDD’s website. The material may be quoted, downloaded and/or copied, subject to the following conditions:

  • the name(s), title(s) and institutional affiliation(s) of author(s), as well as a bibliographical reference to its original publication in LDD (author, title of article and volume of LDD) must be included by those who use it; and
  • the copyright of the author(s) – for example, the right to republish or amend the material – remains intact, and articles that are reproduced may not be changed in any way.

Please therefore make full use of the articles contained in LDD for all academic, research or practical purposes – but kindly remember to cite the source so that others can also find it.

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