JOHANNESBURG - South Africans have become too comfortable with lethal weapons.
That is a concern being raised by Gun Free South Africa.
In the latest incident, a viral video shows two women casually playing with guns.
READ: ‘Guns not toys’: Police warn against reckless handling of firearms after viral video
The owners of the weapons, two men, have since been arrested with a hijacked vehicle.
"The incident really reveals some troubling realities. First of all, there is a misconception that firearms are symbols of safety, power, and status, and they can even be used for entertainment, when actually, firearms were designed to kill and to inflict harm," said the organisation's Stanley Maphosa.
"Secondly, it shows how normalised and unsafe the firearm behaviour has become in some of the spaces."
Maphosa said when people handle firearms casually for amusement, social media content, and bravado, it really reflects a serious erosion of safety consciousness.
READ: Two men linked to firearms seen in viral video arrested, firearms seized
"It also exposes the limits of relying on the notion that says there are people who are responsible gun owners.
"Because people make mistakes, they act emotionally, they behave recklessly, and they become negligent and therefore, public safety must account for all those realities," he said.
"From the standpoint of Gun Free South Africa, this is not simply one reckless incident. It's about a broader culture that will become comfortable around lethal weapons in a country that is already having intolerable burdens of gun violence."