Licensed Firearms Owners are NOT to Blame

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Confusing the misuse of firearms held by licensed firearm owners, with misuse by those holding firearms unlawfully, is a common error. An error routinely made around the world by agencies when they attempt to reduce firearm crime.

Simplistic solutions for controlling firearms can’t work when it is human misusers holding them, when they misuse or commit crimes; a far harder problem to address. Identifying solutions to these problems seems to be beyond the vision (and Parliamentary careers) of most politicians.

Just as we do not say that the 350 annual fatalities on our roads are a problem with cars, so we should not say that the violence perpetrated with firearms is a problem with guns. It is recognised that the road toll is largely down to driver behaviour, and so it is with guns. It is the criminal who pulls the trigger who is the problem not the gun.

As revealed almost daily in our news stories it is criminals who unlawfully possess guns that are behind the violence perpetrated in our communities. In NZ this is largely represented by Gangs. Licensed firearm owners are not the problem, they are law abiding, because that is their nature and to be otherwise risks the loss of their licence and their guns.

As Chaz Forsyth President of the Sporting Shooters Association of NZ says “Many academic studies have pointed to the unlawful holders of firearms being the real problem. It is shameful that the government allows such attacks on a law abiding minority group such as licensed firearm owners.”

Thus to attempt to solve problems perceived to be connected with firearms the obvious solution is to target criminal gangs and their members. This the present government has failed to do. Instead they have simply targeted their arms legislation at the law abiding licensed firearm owning community since March 2019, and in doing so have maligned and marginalised a section of New Zealand society who have been vetted to a higher standard than most police officers.

Police tighten their anti-gun ownership stance even further.

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A 137-page discussion document has been launched by Police regarding the future Police approval and certification of shooting ranges.

Clubs and individuals have just 6 weeks to lodge their thoughts and feedback on the proposed changes. Chaz Forsyth, Sporting Shooters Assn President says he is sure he speaks for most of the 240,000 licensed gun owners when he says there was no intention of listening to those affected.

“These new regulations are another example of vindictive bureaucracy, dictated by government ideology against lawful firearm owners, following the Christchurch massacre, when we all know that that tragedy was perpetrated by a lone fanatic, who obtained his firearms through police mismanagement of the firearms licence system.”

He says the Police and the Government are targeting the wrong people.
“There has been no evidence of safety issues reported on civilian ranges in New Zealand. Now we have police, who are well known for their questionable shooting ability, through inadequate training, dictating to civilians on how to conduct their sports shooting.”
Forsyth adds that a major part of the role of clubs is training and safe use of firearms.

“To close down clubs and shooting ranges because they think that will help is like banning driver training to save lives on the roads”

The Sporting Shooters Assn is calling for a total re–write of the Arms Act 2020

10,000 less guns to save our native forests

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Because of delays in renewals of gun licenses, there will be a shortfall of 10,000 hunters to control the feral deer in our native bush.

Chaz Forsyth, chairman of Sporting shooters, says gun owners are livid at the delays for which there seems to be no reason.
“It is almost a case of the Government and the Police not wanting any legal and licensed firearm owner to have guns or enjoy their sport.” Delays of up six months for those already licensed, and twelve months for those who want to become a legal owner are widely known.

“It is demoralizing that gang members can procure a license and supply other gang members, while lawful owners are facing a continuation of restrictions and new laws to stifle any desire to continue in their chosen sport”.

Rules regarding storage, transportation and use of the guns continue to choke law-abiding gun owners. No one seems to care, he says; guns are not PC in the eyes of many because of the publicity surrounding street shootings, and the authorities are feeding that message to the general public to shun licensed gun owners even more.

“People forget that there are about 250,000 lawful gun owners who shoot in controlled situations, hunt to feed their families and others, & are among the world’s best when it comes to Olympic games and international competition”.

He points out that shooting is the only international sport that the Government wants to stamp out rather than promote, and despite many attempts to get a response from the Minister, Poto Williams, the intense pressure to deny gun owners any freedom to enjoy their sport continues.

In the mean time our forests are being decimated and the Government turns its blind eye to the problem.

So if you agree, hunt for food or enjoy your sport, email poto.williams@parliament.govt.nz & exhort her to use her powers to grant extensions to expiring licences.

Withheld Firearm Data Shows Buyback Never Worked; COLFO press release

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Wednesday, 9 March 2022, 6:07 pm

The “GunSafe” firearm data withheld from the New Zealand Herald for two years proves that the firearm confiscation following the Christchurch terror attack did not work, and the Government was wrong to act against licensed firearm owners.

COLFO Spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says that if the GunSafe data is correct, illegal firearms were never handed in by criminals.

“This data, withheld for two years, shows the buyback did not make New Zealanders safer. Illegally owned firearms stayed illegally owned, in homes and on the street, ready to be used.

“Licensed firearm owners were vilified for complaining about the buyback and rule changes, and were maligned in an infamous cover of the Police Association magazine.

“Two years later the Police’s own data proves that we were right; a buyback would, as in every other country they have been tried, only recover the legal firearms, not the underground firearms that posed the real risk to everyone’s safety.”

GunSafe data was promised to be public and easily accessible to help guide policy. Police Association President Chris Cahill originally praised the Police for creating what he called a “dashboard of stats showing the “firearms event” landscape for the whole country.”

Devereux-Mack says GunSafe data has been selectively presented and misused since it was created in 2019. COLFO, the New Zealand Herald, and many others frustrated at the misuse have had to turn to the Official Information Act to extract data from Police.

“The Police have presented parts of the data when they think it shows the threat to themselves, or when implication that firearms are widespread will help policy changes.

“It is unreliable and should not be used as evidence supporting tighter restrictions on legal firearm owners nor supporting general arming of Police,” Devereux-Mack says.

The data includes all manner of events, even callouts where firearms are never found. Even the Police Association noted in 2020 that recording of events is erratic.

Data reliability is undermined by broad criteria that leads to ‘events’ being entered into the Gun Safe system. Entries include times a firearm is suspected but not present, times where there is a ‘perceived firearms risk’ but no actual firearm involved, times a subject is known to have a firearm – but Police do not encounter one, and for events when there is something that looks like a real firearm, but isn’t.

Event details are either combined in rough categories or inputted into free text fields which Police noted in an OIA response to COLFO last year, made it too time consuming to formulate into more useful data.

COLFO supports frontline officers and their work on operation Tauwhiro which is necessary to tackle criminal use of firearms. Devereux-Mack says this is where Police should be investing their efforts and not the administration of the firearms licensing system where police have clearly shown that they are an inefficient disaster.

Punishment Of Licensed Firearms Owners Will Not Help Lower Crime Rates, Says COLFO

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Friday, 21 January 2022, 8:36 am
Press Release: COLFO

The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) says that punitive action from Police against legal firearms owners will not help reduce firearm thefts.

Recently, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster indicated in the annual select committee review that licensed firearms owners who have firearms stolen may be charged if Police decide the firearms were not adequately secured.

Police and licensed firearms owners in New Zealand have made good progress in reducing firearm theft, with 377 firearms stolen in 2021, down from 549 in 2020. COLFO spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack is worried that a growing punitive attitude towards licensed firearms owners will damage this progress.

“Police will work with gangs for better outcomes but punish licensed firearms owners because a criminal broke into their house and endangered their family” he says.

“Owners are doing their best to follow the myriad of restrictions already imposed on them. Police need to work with firearms owners, not against them, to ensure firearms are not ending up in the wrong hands. An environment of distrust is not conducive to safer communities.”

Police are aware of the length criminals will go to steal firearms. In April of 2019 when semi-automatic firearms were prohibited, 11 firearms handed in for destruction were stolen from a Police station in Palmerston North.[1]

As a result, Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement asked firearms owners to ‘be patient and hold onto their firearms’ while the police worked out how to safely store and destroy them.

“Mr Clement trusted legal firearms owners to store firearms more safely than the Police. Now Police are inherently distrustful of the same careful firearms owners” says Devereux-Mack.

Across the ditch, Victoria’s State Parliament are cementing the distrust of legal firearms owners in legislation. Police will have the authority to remove a firearm license for up to 10 years over a speeding ticket.[2]

“Licensed firearms owners are not the criminals these laws shape them as. The legislation will punish legal firearms owners more for the same crime as committed by non-firearms owners. Moreover, it assumes they deserve it.” says Devereux-Mack.

Hugh Devereux-Mack says New Zealand laws have been more sensible than those suggested in Australia but is worried that is slipping.

“Legislation of the sort proposed in Australia harms the relationship between licensed firearms owners and Police. Mr Coster should be mindful of falling into the same trap” he says.

“Licensed firearms owners are not criminals. Police and licensed firearm owners should be united in focus on stopping legally owned firearms from ending up in the wrong hands. It will take a combined effort from both parties to continue education on the safe storage of firearms and further reduce thefts.”

COLFO has previously shown that legislation directed at licensed firearms owners does not make New Zealanders safer. See the release here.

[1] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/387983/theft-heightens-police-concern-on-securing-guns-before-disposal

[2] https://www.sportingshooter.com.au/latest/10-year-licence-ban-for-as-little-as-a-speeding-fine

The real story behind ‘firearms misinformation’ (COLFO media release)

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8:02AM, 18 January 2022

The public is in fear of firearm violence because of deliberate misinformation, but the real story is that the 2021 statistics on firearms violence are no different to the previous three years.

President of the NZ Police Association Chris Cahill has claimed that ‘gang tensions and rising gun violence are contributing to homicide rates’.

The real story is that homicide rates are the lowest in four years, and that firearms violence is not rising and is currently on par with the previous three years.

COLFO spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says the public is being deliberately misinformed by people who should know better.

“Firearms violence did not escalate in 2021, which shows that Mr Cahill and others are stoking firearms panic for their own ends, such as promoting general Police arming.”

But Devereux-Mack says the fact that firearm violence has not changed at all is concrete evidence that the government gun buyback did nothing to increase the safety of New Zealanders.

Cahill has also falsely claimed that “we’ve never had a gun register since the 1980’s”.

“We’ve had a register for restricted firearms since 1920, which includes handguns and military style firearms. Yet this failed to stop gang members using pistols during a shootout in November last year”

Devereux-Mack takes issue with Cahill’s claim that gun violence is a daily occurrence for police, as it gives the impression that criminals are pointing guns at police every day.

“Over the course of June 2020 to July 2021, Police only had guns presented at them 24 times. Contrast this with the 388 times Police presented firearms at members of the public in 2021, and Mr Cahill is presenting a very warped picture” says Devereux-Mack.

“Police aim firearms at citizens 16 times more than they have firearms aimed at them.”

“Additionally, quite often when Police encounter a firearm it turns out to be fake. Every time Police point a firearm at someone it’s real.”

Devereux-Mack says it is vital that we put a stop to the spread of firearms misinformation. He says policy or Police action influenced by such claims would be a disaster.

“Misinformation on such a serious matter is bad enough, yet it is made even worse because the false claims about the nature of firearms violence in New Zealand are being made by those in positions of influence.”

“If these claims were to inform policy decisions or the uptake of general Police arming it would be a disaster for the safety of New Zealanders” he says.

“Police on the streets with newly-acquired firearms, expecting to use them for protection and offense, would place all New Zealanders in danger.”

New Police Firearms Regulatory Unit announced

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An “Independent” unit?

In announcing a new Firearm Regulatory Unit “separate from, but still aligned to Police” Police Minister Hon. Poto Williams has reneged on a previous commitment by Labour to set up an Independent Firearm Authority to administer the Arms Act.

She went on to claim “This Government has a strong track record on tackling gun crime. Already we have prohibited the most dangerous firearms.”

As Neville Dodd, President of SSANZ points out, “The 60,000+ firearms confiscated by the government existed in the community for 28 years without a problem, that is until police failed in their duty to properly vet a foreign terrorist.

We therefore question why the regulation of the Arms Act is still being left with Police.
In SSANZ’ view it is very wrong for Police to be both the regulating authority and also the enforcement agency in dealing with firearms.

This represents a clear conflict of interest that would not be acceptable in most professional organisations.

Independence encourages trust

SSANZ welcomes the new planned Regulatory Unit but strongly believe it must be completely independent of police if it is to have the trust and confidence of the firearm community.

We will watch with interest as the new model is developed and trust that it will include local offices where customers can interact with real people, rather than a purely faceless web based operation.

We would like to see a substantial financial investment in the new Authority. Anyone who has recently been through either the licensing or re-licensing system will know that the current process is overwhelmed and under-resourced.

It is ridiculous that police are taking from 6 to 9 months for licence renewals. A strong focus from the government on investment in additional staff, systems, technology and other resources will be needed if the new Authority has any chance of succeeding where the current system has floundered.

We look forward to more information on the key performance indicators for the new Authority, particularly with regard to (1) improving application processing times, (2) making a real difference in reducing gun crime and (3) identifying the sources of gun crime and the supply chains of illegally-held weapons.

Steady increase in violence post “buyback”

Since over 60,000 firearms were confiscated from law abiding licensed firearm owners, more stringent regulations applied to lawful ownership and tougher penalties were introduced for gun crime, we have seen a steady increase in gun related violence perpetrated largely by gang members.

The question then:

So how have all these new laws made New Zealanders safer – a question which has also been asked by the Office of the Auditor General?

A Significant Distortion of the Truth

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Recent statements attributed to the Commissioner of Police, Andrew Coster, have repeated previous allegations from police that gangs acquire their firearms from licensed firearms owners. That is a significant distortion of the truth and by implication Coster maligns a quarter of a million carefully and properly vetted New Zealanders.

The Commissioner very conveniently fails to mention that 12 gang members who had “wrongly” been issued with firearms licenses were the conduit to gangs for a large number of firearms. Wrong, because no member of a gang would meet the “fit and proper” criteria required to hold a firearms license. If they had been issued with licenses, then those licenses should have been revoked. That would have been logical and easy. Police have a list of gang members and they have a list of licensed firearms owners so a simple comparison of the two lists for match ups would have not only been obvious but easy to do. Clearly, that has not been done.

It is known that some of that 12 bought up large in order to supply guns to their gang associates, so it is easy to see how police can say “hand on heart” that the gangs are getting their guns from licensed firearms owners. However, the reality is quite different and it is extremely disappointing that our New Zealand police lacked the integrity to acknowledge the truth.

This situation not only offends the properly vetted firearms owners, it begs the question of why those 12 firearms licenses were ever issued in the first instance and more importantly why they remained valid and were not revoked. One has to question police administration efficiency.

In this regard, we are reminded that the Royal Commission held that police failings in issuing the Mosque shooter Tarrant with a firearms license also emanated from sloppy police work. These twelve gang related license holders seem to be yet another example of poor police vetting?

To further illustrate the falsehood of the Commissioner’s claims we obtained the following data for the most recent 10 years through Official Information Act enquiries to police:

1. An annual average of only 9 holders of a firearm license have been prosecuted for supplying firearms to unlicensed people (not necessarily or exclusively gang members). Police and/or Police Association media statements suggest a much greater number.

2. Annually an average of 188 license holders report a burglary where firearms are taken. (The number shows a slight increase in the most recent 5 years). Police and/or Police Association statements do not usually state numbers but they imply a much larger number.

3. The total number of firearms reported stolen from license holders average 567 per year. Yet an earlier OIA response states police seize some 1300 unlawfully held guns each year. This clearly rebuts Commissioner Coster’s claim that gangs get their guns from licensed firearms owners. We have always been of the opinion that gangs import guns along with their narcotics imports.

4. An average figure for firearms reported stolen that are recovered is 32 per year. (one is tempted to ask how effective NZ Police are; of course, we do sympathise with police on this aspect as the first thing that a gang member will do is a make a 5 second pass across the stolen firearm with an angle grinder to remove serial numbers).

As an aside, we point out that simple act with a grinder makes a mockery of the police “justification” for the new Firearms Register to be implemented in two years time.

5. On average 3 firearms are reported lost each year, although it should be noted that this number is declining. Very few of these appear to be recovered (4 in 11 years).’ We would make two observations on this.

(a) In our view this small number is a recognition that firearms are treated by licensed firearms owners as valuable assets (or even treasured possessions)

(b) It is highly likely that losses could be by hunters in difficult and/or dangerous terrain

6. Police themselves lose on average 2 firearms of their own each year due to loss or theft (interestingly their OIA response on this point failed to include the 11 firearms stolen from Palmerston North police station last year nor those stolen from police cars). The comparison is stark. Licenced Firearms Owners loss as a percentage of the total owned is 0.00013% and the police loss is 0.033% i.e police are 300 times more likely to lose a firearm than a licensed firearms owner.

In Summary

  • Just 0.0035% of the total population of licensed firearm owners are prosecuted for supplying guns to unlicensed people.
  • Less than half the guns seized by police are those stolen from licensed owners so where do the bulk come from?
  • It is our contention that most guns circulating in the underworld (250,000 estimate) are those accumulated over many years, (“bring backs” from two world wars and other conflicts) along with more modern firearms smuggled into the country with $millions of drugs.
  • Added to this police have provided 12 known gang associates with a firearm license so it is no wonder that criminals have ready access to firearms.

A Significant Distortion of the Truth

What exactly is a 3D printed “Ghost Gun”?

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Following the recent Sun newspaper article, we sought the opinion of a 3D printing specialist here in NZ, and following is his reply:

First off, a “Ghost Gun” is a firearm, usually home made, that lacks serial numbers.
3D Printing is nothing to do with it, any more than a hacksaw is. Back in the last century these were called “Zip guns,” made from pipe and rubber bands, and as much danger to the holder as anyone else.

A Briton by the name of P. A. Luty literally wrote the books on home made firearms. His designs cost less than £300 and don’t require anything more than ordinary DIY tools. His publications are widely available, and have been for decades. It’s not rocket science.

Most “3D printed” firearms seen in the USA rely on precision factory metal components (barrels, magazines, locking mechanisms etc.) which are not restricted over there.

It is interesting that these designs are often semi-automatic. It is considerably harder to make a semi-automatic gun than a fully automatic one unless you have access to precision parts. You’d think that hardened criminals would go for rapid fire, so frankly I suspect someone is just trying to show off.

AR’s, AK’s and so forth rely on the strength and wear resistance of metals to contain pressures measured in tens of thousands of PSI. In theory a plastic gun might hold a .22 round, but a plastic AR or AK is fantasy. Making parts other than the critical (and restricted) barrel and bolt is relatively simple using pretty much any process – even duct tape would suffice to hold them together.

There are designs that use 3D printed bits as templates and for low-stress parts, and common hardware store items for the stronger bits. But basically the same thing can be accomplished with printed paper templates, and aluminium or plywood. It’s simply a question of design, and by necessity these designs are not copies of normal firearms though they may superficially resemble them.

What’s missing here is 3D printed ammunition. That, I suspect, is a somewhat tougher nut to crack.

It has always been possible for malcontents to make their own functional firearms. They’re simple technology for anyone who can understand how to service a motorbike engine, for example.

 
What we should be asking  ourselves is why more people would be feeling the need to do it?

New Gun laws have not made NZ safer but Commissioner Coster blames legal firearm owners

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We have every sympathy for front line officers caught up in the recent shooting incidents in Hamilton and Auckland over the past week, however we refute the Commissioners assertion that the source of guns in the hands of criminals is from burglaries of law abiding owners (5:20).

He refuses to acknowledge that if millions of dollars of illegal drugs can be smuggled into the country, guns can also come by the same means.

He also claims that some licence holders have sold guns to gangs, forgetting that police themselves have issued a dozen licences to known gang members.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018804202/police-commissioner-looking-into-frontline-officer-safety-as-risk-rises