GUN LAWS -- NEW ZEALAND ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Chris Evans ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is not intended to be a "legal" description or anything that could be construed as "official". History ======= Pre 1984 New Zealand had a system whereby each Rifle was licenced, the weapon was individually noted. To explain further - Airguns were more or less readily freely available, If you were a youth (can't remember the age offhand) you had to have a "firearms licence" otherwise there was no permit required. A "Firearms licence" was not so much a licence but a small piece of paper from the Mountain Safety Council saying that you were more or less qualified ( no tests, no security clearance, just an interview) With this licence you could then apply for a permit to procure a Shotgun (Shotguns were not individually licenced), or a rifle. The rifle vendor filled out his details and you returned to the police station with both rifle and permit and upon being viewed and inspected the Rifle was then licenced to you. In 1984 the old system was scrapped and the system changed from licencing the weapon to licencing the owner, with this came formal training, examination, and security checks - all undertaken by the Police. From that date there were then no restrictions on the sale and trade of weapons as long as the person presented a licence they could then buy whatever that licence entitled then to in the way of Rifles and Shotguns. Pistols, and restricted weapons have always been the subject of some strict controls. 1992 ==== Following on from the influx of cheap Chinese semiautomatic weapons ie SKS and Type 56 and similar type weapons with there evil looks and bad PR image - not to mention the increasing number of particularly unfortunate massacres both in NZ and overseas we now have the Arms Ammendment Act 1992. Key Points ========== * All of the hold "lifetime" licences are revoked and will be progressively recalled - The new licences will include a photo and theoretically will be harder to get. Cost more and be valid for a period of ten years. * A new class of firearm - Military Style Semi-automatic Sporting configuration is permitted - however the definition is very wide and catches most if not all semi's Arms Ammendment Act 1992, No 95 Section 2 para 3 Sporting configuration in relation to a semi-automatic firearm, means being without any of the following features: (a) A folding or telescopic butt: (b) A magazine that is capable of holding, or that by its appearance, indicates that it is capable of holding,- (i) In the case of a magazine designed to hold .22 inch rimfire cartridges, more than 15 cartridges; or (ii)In any other case, more than 7 cartridges: (c) Bayonet lugs: (d) A military pattern free-standing pistol grip: (e) A flash suppresor: * Increased vetting required for MSS-A applicants, and costs the provision for special conditions to be imposed regarding use transport and storage over an above those stated in the act or regulations. (basically at the discretion of the local Police Commander). * Increased restrictions of the importation of parts and accessories also restrictions on mail order sales and over the counter ammunition sales. Regulations =========== The new regulations have placed semi's into the same security and storage requirements as that of Pistols and restricted weapons. A Safe, bunker, or similar certified and approved by the Police. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Jonathan Spencer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The article is quoted verbatim and w/o permission from Guns Review Vol 33 No. 8, August 1993 (ISSN 0017 5692). I make no comment on it. It was read in using a scanner, so any typos are probably from that proces - honest! :) Changes to New Zealand's Gun Laws Don Hood NEW ZEALAND firearm owners have just been saddled with tough, new gun laws which outlaw military style semi-automatic rifles and curb mail order sales of all weapons and ammunition. The new legislation, introduced by the ruling conservative National Party, dismantles the 1983 Arms Act which was hailed as an international model of what firearms laws should be. The new law was introduced by Police Minister John Banks following the Aramoana "massacre" in November 199O, when a recluse, David Grey, killed 13 men. Grey later died in a shoot out with armed police. Grey used an SKS 7.62x39 semi-auto and a Norinco AK-47 copy, chambered for the .223 cartridge. He also had four .22LR rifles--two semi-automatic and two single shots. It was New Zealand's first experience with the horror of such senseless massacres since the 194O's. Two more were to follow in 1992 with the Schlaepfer killings near Auckland in May, followed six weeks later by the Masterton massacre. A total of 14 people died in these two incidents. While a shotgun was used in some of the Schlaepfer killings, some victims were stabbed. All the Masterton victims were stabbed to death or bludgeoned with a softball bat. Immediately after the Aramoana killings, Police Minister Banks said he would outlaw military look-a-like firearms, which he persist- ently refers to as "Rambo" guns. The resulting legislation means: - Revoking of lifetime firearms licences introduced in 1983. - The introduction of ten year licences. - A new licence category restricting assault rifle ownership. - Heavy licence costs for people wanting to own an assault rifle. - Restrictians on importation of such weapons. - Restrictions on ammunition sales; - Restricting mail order purchases of guns and ammunition. - New license carrying the firearm owner's photo. A military-style semi-automatic firearm is defined in the new legislation as any semi-automatic firearm, not a pistol, with any one or more of the following characteristics; a folding or telescopic butt; a magazine of fifteen .22 or seven centrefire cartridges; bayonet lugs; a free-standing pistol grip or a flash suppressor. Many of the measures will be familiar to British and Australian gun owners, who experienced similar law-toughening after the Hungerford and Hoddle Street killings. New Zealand firearm owners waged a long and public fight to stop the law being introduced but were ultimately unsuccessful. The main thrust of their argument was that the new laws will have no effect in stopping criminal behaviour with firearms and will do nothing to prevent another Aramoana-type tragedy. Shooters Rights Association vice-president Grant Beesley is adamant that it wasn't the law that needed changing but police practices and their application of the existing law. He claims that the National Party has used the Arms Law changes as a smokescreen for poor enforcement of the existing act. Police procedure failed to disarm those who are clearly dangerous. New Zealand, with readily accessible, year round hunting and large regions of virgin forest, has a high rate of firearm ownership by international standards. Nearly ten per cent of the population are licensed to own firearms. Despite this high level of ownership, the number of crimes involving guns is low. In the years 1978 to 1991, an average of only 1.63 per cent of all violent crimes were committed with a firearm. Under the original 1983 law, police were supposed to vet all existing owners as suitable to continue possessing firearms. However, in a leaked police internal memo the officer in charge of the Firearms Licencing Task-Force, Inspector PS Gubb, admitted this was not done because of lack of resources. Th~ limited vetting that was carried out alphabetically stopped before police reached owners whose names began with G. If the vetting had been carried out as required, the Aramoana killings by David Grey may never have happened. The memo also reveals that the huge task of revoking existing licences and issuing new ones, complete with photo, will take until the beginning of 1998 to complete. It also admits that police have no clear idea of who owns military-style guns targeted by the new laws, or even how many such guns are actually in the country. The memo estimates are that anywhere between ten and thirty thousand such weapons are now in New Zealand. But that figure is disputed by firearm retailers who suggest the real figure is closer to sixty thousand. It's this vagueness that angers shooters who have warned that because no-one knows exactly who owns assault rifles, the law will be impossible to enforce. Coupled with new fees of around $NZ25O to licence military-style weapons, the new laws will create a thriving blackmarket. Some such weapons are only worth a few hundred dollars and owners are hardly likely to want to pay another $250 for something they already have. That view is supported by the opposition Labour Party, whose spokesman, Dr Michael Cullen says the new law is flawed because the hefty licence fees will deter those who own an assault rifle from telling police about it. He warns that, as a result, a whole new blackmarket in semi-automatic military weapons would be created. Labour is also concerned that the police plan to store the now compulsory photos of firearm owners in police computer files. Labour MP Peter Dunne says that there is nothing to stop police using the photography for things outside firearm law enforcement and he questions just how secure the information will be. Mr Dunne says there has been no chance for a public debate on the privacy issues raised by the police move, or any attempt to address firearm owners' concerns. The New Zealand Shooters Rights Association claim that the National Party government's arms polices are playing into criminals' hands and failing to address the main problem. They also claim that the Police hierarchy needs to be made accountable for the failure to use the 1983 Arms Act provisions.