A promise by the National Party to scrap the new firearms register planned by the current government was met with rounds of applause at a meeting at the Warkworth RSA last month.
Front bench MP Mark Mitchell, who is National’s spokesperson for Defence and Justice, made a commitment that National would repeal elements of the Arms Act in its first 100 days, if elected with a majority at the General Election in September.
He said National would look to scrap plans that would require gun owners to register their weapon with police, as well as reinstate “P” endorsement licenses that provide exemptions for using semi-automatic weapons for sport shooting and pest control.
National’s Shadow Police Minister, Brett Hudson, said the party had initially supported the Labour-led government’s legislation to ban military-style automatic weapons, but the Government had since gone too far.
“In Australia, where there is a register, 90 per cent of crimes committed with a firearm are by those without a licence,” Mr Hudson said.
“A register doesn’t keep guns out of criminal hands, it just burdens law-abiding firearm owners. We need to deal with the genuine problem of gang activity and illegal firearms.”
Mr Hudson added that if National was elected with a majority it would form a “strike force raptor” tactical unit to eliminate gangs.
“We are going to make life hell for patched gang members. In my view, the Government thinks the rights of gang members are more important than public safety,” he said.
Mr Hudson also objected to proposed amendments to the Arms Act that would require a doctor to report patients holding gun licenses if they believed them unsuitable to own a firearm.
Mr Hudson said that being assessed by doctors on suitability to own a firearm would be a privacy intrusion for the 250,000 licence holders in New Zealand.
For many in the crowd, Mr Hudson and Mr Mitchell’s commitments to scrap restrictions were not enough.
“You young chaps need to open your history books in your dusty enclave in Wellington. I once had a lifetime licence and they reduced it to 10 years, and then even less. Meanwhile, the violence has continued,” one man said.
“I had a permit for a shotgun at age 13, and I still shoot on the same properties as when I was a teenager. Rural firearm owners are becoming outnumbered as cities grow and it’s up to MPs to stand up for the rural sector,” another said.
Yet another speaker added his opposition to a register: “A gun registration would be like car registration – it won’t stop the killing.”
Meanwhile, Police Minister Stuart Nash, visiting Warkworth last week, said the Government was considering even further measures to control access to guns.
Last year, Mr Nash proposed legislation that would allow police to issue firearm prohibition orders (FPO) to individuals, such as gang members, deemed high-risk.
“An FPO would prohibit someone from being around others who have firearms or being at a location that enables access to guns,” Mr Nash said.
The penalty for being in a household or in a vehicle with a firearm while under an FPO would be up to five years imprisonment.
