Firearms Control!

Kia Ora,

Well it has hit the headlines again. Firearms control after a couple of murders where firearms were used.

But is the way we control them actually going to stop the murders?


Not really. The recently released NZ police statistics made the point that most murders were carried out without a firearm. Often they would of happened without one being present anyway. It was just convenient.

As my sergeants used to say in the army it is not the weapon that kills, but the nut behind it. Or as a former member of the British SAS said to me in Baghdad, "watch the weapon, not the clown behind it. Where it points is the danger, not the clowns intention."

No that is not a contradiction. The weapon is the tool. Badly handled it is dangerous & a bad workman blames his tools.

Of course there is the upswing in armed robbery of late as the financial crisis strengthens it grip, leads to a rise in crime.

Most of those weapons are illegal. Smuggled in through a variety of sources.

For a number of years the NZ police used to have a small press release asking people to watch out for suspicious activity around our coastline which they believed were responsible for alsorts of smuggling.

Then there are incidents like the one last year where a container showed up in Dunedin full of explosives.

Again it often comes back to the NZ mindset. Although we identify as pioneer types most are city born & breed & have probably never held a firearm.

Properly trained they are not that dangerous unless you intentionally intend to use them. But NZ tends to have the blinkers on.

For example recently after I left the army I was involved in the security for a public event. The police were getting their briefing for the nights event when over the radio came "a young boy has just had a firearm pointed at him by a male, description ....., keep an eye out in this area until police arrive from briefing".

We were close to that point, so I suggested we get a little closer to see if we could identify the person in question prior to police arrival.

My offsiders comment was "we will see him as firearms stick out".

"what about pistols or sawn off shotgun?" I asked.

"Oh they are illegal, so they won't be around".

Not sure what planet that guy was on, but just presenting a firearm at someone is illegal or having them concealed, as it was reported to be, is also illegal in NZ. So I don't think that was going to stop someone having one or other of the above weapons.

Stricter weapons control will only penalise those that follow the law. True some of them are pretty slack & the police deal to them when they discover that fact.

But it will in no way affect those that intend to use them for criminal acts.