New Zealand Gun Ban: Mistakes Were Made, New Gun Control Group, New "BuyBack"

After the terrorist attack on radical Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the far left government of Jacinda Ardern pushed through new, radical gun laws. The laws had the full support of nearly all media in the anglosphere.

The laws were pushed through, as usual, by people who knew almost nothing of firearms or firearms technology. They were pushed through based on emotion and one political act of terrorism. The perpetrator accurately predicted this to be a consequence of his actions. It appeared the laws would be somewhat less severe than those pushed through in somewhat similar circumstances in Australia, in 1997.

For example, .22 rimfire semi-automatic rifles would not be banned. They have never been a common item used in mass killings, but are common all over the world for hunting small game.

Most pump shotguns would not be banned. Pistols would not be banned. Here is a summation.  From rnz.co.nz:

A briefing from police was sent to the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, and her Cabinet colleagues on 19 March, making a number of proposals for amendments to the Arms Act, 1983.

The briefing, obtained under the Official Information Act, states that Cabinet had agreed in principle to "ban detachable magazines for firearms other than 0.22 calibre, ban all magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, and ban magazines for shotguns capable of holding more than 5 rounds".

In response, police made a number of changes to the proposals, including a key change to the magazines that would be banned.

"We refined the description of 'the magazine' agreed to in the principle recommendations as this would have mistakenly banned all magazines, including those of pistols."

Police also refined the definition about what type of pump-action shotguns should be excluded from the ban and specified that A-category, rimfire 0.22 calibre or less rifles should be exempt.

Critics of the firearms law changes said the process was too rushed, and not enough time was given for submissions on the amendments to the act.

The documents show some early errors were picked up by police, while other concerns were dealt with when the bill was brought to Parliament less than two weeks later.

The changes were merely common sense adjustments to an emotional pre-packaged response to a one time political event. But those who want societies disarmed were not satisfied. Another gun control lobbying group was founded. Founding members "have backgrounds in public health and public policy".  The new group is pushing for a total ban on semi-automatic firearms (why?)  They called for registration of all firearms (previously rejected by New Zealand police as expensive and ineffective), and a three year limit on the registration. This would require New Zealanders to re-apply for the privilege of owning guns every three years. From scoop.co.nz:

Co-founder Nik Green says “Gun ownership imposes risks on all of us, and our current laws still have many loopholes. Gun Control NZ wants effective gun laws that keep the entire community safe.”

This is the standard line of gun prohibitionists. It is not a truism. There is no empirical proof that higher gun ownership results in higher homicide rates or higher suicide rates.

Both Australia and New Zealand have been incredibly safe and law abiding countries before and after their latest gun laws were enacted.

Just a few hours ago, (20 June, 2019) the government of New Zealand announced they would be spending NZ $198 million to purchase guns confiscated from New Zealand gun owners. It shows the global conformity of those pushing citizen disarmament that this is referred to by the Orwellian term "buyback" in the Australian media (New Zealand reveals $198 million gun buyback scheme).  To their credit, the New Zealand government does not use the term "buyback". You cannot buy back something you never owned.  From abc.net.au:

Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Minister of Police Stuart Nash said in a joint emailed statement that NZ$208 million ($198 million) had been set aside to compensate owners of the banned semi-automatic firearms up to 95 per cent of the original cost.

They would have until December 20 to hand in their weapons.

"Police have detailed plans in place for the next step, which is the collection of firearms from the community," Mr Nash said.

 New Zealand has a population of less than five million people, with about 3.6 million of them adults.  The gun confiscation will cost about $55 per adult in New Zealand. Almost certainly, the same amount spent on public health, would result in multiple more lives saved than spent on confiscating guns.

The laws are not based on logic, reason, or sound policy, but on the hatred and fear of guns by people who do not own them.

©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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