https://krugersdorpnews.co.za/359564/br ... respasser/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
“Close enough. I felt he would lunge at me and strike me with the stick as he was carrying it in a raised position,” the owner said. “He ignored my demand, slowly moving forward. Consciously, I moved the paintball gun to the front, still maintaining its position pointing to the ground. Approximately one metre in front of me, I released two paintballs. They made a popping sound. Then the man stopped.”
The owner then called the police.
By the time police arrived the man had long gone. The owner asked the police to take down his, and four of the eye witnesses’ statements, but the police did not do so and left.
On Tuesday, 10 July, the owner was at the Muldersdrift Police Station when he was informed that the man accused of trespassing had opened a case of attempted murder against him and that he would be arrested. Police placed the owner under arrest
The question the public is asking now is ‘How there could be charges of attempted murder since a paintball gun is not a dangerous weapon?’
According to the The Dangerous Weapons Act 15 of 2013 and what it means to paintball/ airsoft players, “A dangerous weapon means any object, other than a firearm, capable of causing death or inflicting serious bodily harm, if it were used for an unlawful purpose”.
Charges could include possession of a dangerous weapon, contravening the Dangerous Weapons Act and even a charge as serious as pointing of a firearm – if the victim believes that the weapon is a real firearm. However, the Act states in section 3(1) that “any person who is in possession of a dangerous weapon under circumstances which may raise a reasonable suspicion that the person intends to use the dangerous weapon for an unlawful purpose, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years”.
For more information about the Dangerous Weapons Act visit https://www.saps.gov.za/resource_centre ... 3a0015.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or https://sanpa.co.za/player-information/ ... l-airsoft/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;