The Five Firearm Puzzle: KZN Police Question How a Man With a Record Legally Armed Himself

In a case that raises serious questions about the integrity of South Africa’s firearm control system, KwaZulu-Natal police are probing how a man linked to a string of serious crimes came to be the legal owner of five firearms.

The subject of the investigation is Stuart Scharnick, who has been connected by police to offences including carjacking and theft. What baffles senior officers is not just his alleged criminal activity, but how he successfully navigated the stringent process to acquire a small arsenal.

A Profile That Should Have Raised Red Flags

Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection, Major General Anthony Gopal, did not hide his astonishment. “You ask yourself certain questions about his profile,” Gopal stated. “We pick up that Mr Scharnick owns five firearms. We ask ourselves a question: how will a person with convictions acquire a firearm license? And for what purpose?”

This is the core of the mystery. The legal process to own a firearm in South Africa is designed to be rigorous, involving competency certificates and thorough background checks. A history of criminal convictions is typically an immediate and absolute barrier.

A History of Rejection and a Shadow of Doubt

General Gopal revealed that Scharnick’s journey to gun ownership was not straightforward. His first application in 2015 was followed by a second in Richards Bay, which was officially refused. The reason for the refusal was clear: “the previous conviction” and a failure to “disclose outstanding cases.”

This makes his subsequent successful acquisition of five firearms not just unusual, but highly suspicious. It suggests that the systems designed to protect the public from armed individuals with criminal intent may have been deliberately compromised.

The Ghost in the Machine

The investigation took a dramatic turn when police uncovered what appears to be an inside job. General Gopal disclosed that on January 16, a specific SAPS employee accessed the national criminal record center and “made some adjustments to the benefit of Mr Stuart Scharnick.”

This revelation points to a potentially devastating breach. If criminal records can be altered from within, the very foundation of firearm control, security vetting, and national law enforcement is undermined.

For the KZN police, this is no longer just about one man and his five guns. It is a probe into a possible conspiracy to manipulate state systems, a case that strikes at the heart of public trust in the institutions meant to keep illegal weapons off the streets. The question is no longer just how he got them, but who helped him, and why.

{Source: IOL}

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