Huey14
11-06-2006, 23:34
That the stupidy of the anti-firearms crowd isn't restricted to the US and UK.
Kiwis go for the big guns
07 November 2006
By MIKE STEERE
New Zealanders' appetite for heavy military-style guns has been revealed by gun-ownership statistics.
In total, Kiwis are estimated to own about 1.1 million guns. There are 222,704 licensed firearm-owners.
Sponsored Links
Get ready for the big one
Get an Unbeatable™
home loan with
Bank of New Zealand
Figures issued by police reveal that nine lethal anti-tank projectors, 16 grenade launchers and thousands of machine guns and military-style semi-automatics are in public hands.
The figures have been made public as Parliament's law and order select committee considers the Arms Amendment Bill, which proposes further tightening of gun controls.
The figures have sparked concern from anti-gun lobbyists, but police and pro-gun groups say the situation is under control.
The police national manager of firearms licensing and vetting, Inspector Joe Green, said many of the larger firearms would probably be collectors' pieces or had non-explosive shells.
"Some of them are training rounds that are non-explosive. It may just be the casing and nothing inside."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collectors pieces included the 18 'walking-stick guns', which were historic Victorian-style collectibles, Mr Green said.
He was unsure how many firearms were owned by the criminal community.
"With illicitly owned firearms you can never know definitively how many there are."
Mr Green said people should not fear firearms because New Zealand had a positive gun-safety record.
"While we do keep an eye on it, people who keep them have demonstrated themselves to be fit and proper," he said.
According to police figures, firearms were involved in 621 violent offences last year, less than 1.3 per cent of all violent offending.
That figure had dropped slightly since 2001, when firearms were used in 1.34 per cent of violent offences.
In recent years, New Zealand also had lower gun-related deaths per capita than in the United States, Canada, Australia and France.
Mr Green said there was an active policy not to increase the number of military-style semi-automatic guns, of which there were nearly 8500 in New Zealand.
Graeme Barber, who owns a collection of military memorabilia, including firearms, said firearm collecting was just like any other form of collecting.
"We are not warmongers, we are people that collect history."
Council of Licensed Firearms Owners chairman John Howat said people often perceived a "gun problem", but in reality the vetting of owners was tight, especially with larger guns.
"It's not a matter that they have been imported and all these dangerous people are walking around with them."
People wanting a military-style firearm needed a special endorsement on their licence.
"The people that are in possession of them are subject to rigorous vetting and their security must be of a higher standard. Very few new people get these licences," he said.
He felt news reports about guns would always be negative.
"It is not news to say 230,000 licensed firearm owners all behaved themselves today. It is only news to say that one of them went mad and shot themselves,"Mr Howat said.
Peace Foundation director Marion Hancock said she was concerned about the many powerful weapons circulating in society.
"It's outrageous to think there is so much out there."
Ms Hancock said the foundation was still lobbying to have recommendations implemented from the 1997 report on firearms by retired judge Sir Thomas Thorp.
Sir Thomas examined firearm ownership in New Zealand and recommended that the Government buy back military-style firearms, among other measures to control gun ownership.
"This is something we need to have movement on. We don't want to wait for another Aramoana before something happens," she said.
Silly woman. The last time someone shot more than two people with any kind of firearm was in 1998 (IIRC)...with a regular A Cat shotty.
Kiwis go for the big guns
07 November 2006
By MIKE STEERE
New Zealanders' appetite for heavy military-style guns has been revealed by gun-ownership statistics.
In total, Kiwis are estimated to own about 1.1 million guns. There are 222,704 licensed firearm-owners.
Sponsored Links
Get ready for the big one
Get an Unbeatable™
home loan with
Bank of New Zealand
Figures issued by police reveal that nine lethal anti-tank projectors, 16 grenade launchers and thousands of machine guns and military-style semi-automatics are in public hands.
The figures have been made public as Parliament's law and order select committee considers the Arms Amendment Bill, which proposes further tightening of gun controls.
The figures have sparked concern from anti-gun lobbyists, but police and pro-gun groups say the situation is under control.
The police national manager of firearms licensing and vetting, Inspector Joe Green, said many of the larger firearms would probably be collectors' pieces or had non-explosive shells.
"Some of them are training rounds that are non-explosive. It may just be the casing and nothing inside."
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collectors pieces included the 18 'walking-stick guns', which were historic Victorian-style collectibles, Mr Green said.
He was unsure how many firearms were owned by the criminal community.
"With illicitly owned firearms you can never know definitively how many there are."
Mr Green said people should not fear firearms because New Zealand had a positive gun-safety record.
"While we do keep an eye on it, people who keep them have demonstrated themselves to be fit and proper," he said.
According to police figures, firearms were involved in 621 violent offences last year, less than 1.3 per cent of all violent offending.
That figure had dropped slightly since 2001, when firearms were used in 1.34 per cent of violent offences.
In recent years, New Zealand also had lower gun-related deaths per capita than in the United States, Canada, Australia and France.
Mr Green said there was an active policy not to increase the number of military-style semi-automatic guns, of which there were nearly 8500 in New Zealand.
Graeme Barber, who owns a collection of military memorabilia, including firearms, said firearm collecting was just like any other form of collecting.
"We are not warmongers, we are people that collect history."
Council of Licensed Firearms Owners chairman John Howat said people often perceived a "gun problem", but in reality the vetting of owners was tight, especially with larger guns.
"It's not a matter that they have been imported and all these dangerous people are walking around with them."
People wanting a military-style firearm needed a special endorsement on their licence.
"The people that are in possession of them are subject to rigorous vetting and their security must be of a higher standard. Very few new people get these licences," he said.
He felt news reports about guns would always be negative.
"It is not news to say 230,000 licensed firearm owners all behaved themselves today. It is only news to say that one of them went mad and shot themselves,"Mr Howat said.
Peace Foundation director Marion Hancock said she was concerned about the many powerful weapons circulating in society.
"It's outrageous to think there is so much out there."
Ms Hancock said the foundation was still lobbying to have recommendations implemented from the 1997 report on firearms by retired judge Sir Thomas Thorp.
Sir Thomas examined firearm ownership in New Zealand and recommended that the Government buy back military-style firearms, among other measures to control gun ownership.
"This is something we need to have movement on. We don't want to wait for another Aramoana before something happens," she said.
Silly woman. The last time someone shot more than two people with any kind of firearm was in 1998 (IIRC)...with a regular A Cat shotty.