Oscar Pistorius has now been granted bail ahead of his trial in June. His case has raised many basic questions abroad, such as: is it normal for South Africans to have loaded guns on hand? And is it a defence to say that you killed someone because you thought they were someone else? There’s a fair bit of soul-searching in South Africa about whether the Paralympian would have been granted bail had he not been so well-known and what this says about the justice system. But the case is also opening up a debate familiar to other countries too: on gun control. Here are some quick facts:
- There are 2.9 million firearms licensed to 1.5 million individuals at the last count in August 2011, although some estimates place true ownership much higher at 6 million.
- A law passed in 2000 – the Firearms Control Act – includes a fit and proper test for those applying for ownership.
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