Police say mass shooting inevitable
A mass shooting in New Zealand is ‘‘inevitable’’ unless the gun laws are tightened, MPs have been warned.
A law professor and the police union boss have both urged Parliament to create a register for firearms, as politicians discuss whether it is too easy for criminals to get their hands on the lethal weapons.
In March, Parliament’s law and order select committee launched an inquiry into the illegal possession of firearms following a number of high-profile incidents, including the discovery during a police raid of 14 military assaultgrade AK47s and M16s.
Waikato University law professor Al Gillespie told MPs that the risk of a mass shooting in New Zealand was growing due to the threat from Right-wing and religious terrorists, along with ‘‘lone wolf’’ attacks as seen in Europe and the United States.
‘‘It is, to me, completely foreseeable that there will be another Aramoana in this country.’’
The stockpile and strength of firearms in the country was growing, while the ‘‘dark web’’ had made it possible for people to illegally buy firearms parts and put them together at home.
‘‘They’re practically impossible to detect at Customs, because the Customs officer doesn’t know what this spring is for.’’
Gillespie said the Government should tighten storage requirements and the rules for gun safes, so they could not be easily broken into.
While a prohibition on certain types of guns was an option, Parliament could also look at a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as certain bullets such as the .50 calibre.
‘‘They have the capacity to go through pretty much anything, including a police vest.’’
Gillespie also backed a gun register, particularly for higherpower weapons and those which could be made more dangerous.
Firearms already had a unique identifier when they came into the country, and when they went from Customs to wholesalers, so little effort was needed to create a register. Other possible changes included an amnesty and buyback regime for people with unlicensed firearms, as well as stronger sentences for illegal possession of firearms. It was important to deal with the issue before a mass shooting happened and the public demanded stronger restrictions like a complete ban.
‘‘We can’t stop gun crime, we can’t stop criminals doing bad things, but we can do our best to minimise the risk.’’
Police Association president Greg O’Connor also believed a mass shooting was ‘‘inevitable’’, telling MPs that police had noticed a massive increase in the number of firearms among ‘‘those who simply should not have them’’.
‘‘We’ve already had mass killings, there are mass killings happening in the United States, we would be naive to think we’re not going to have one here.’’
O’Connor accepted there was ‘‘no political will’’ for the police to be routinely armed, but said action was needed to reduce the risk police faced from firearms.
It was too easy to illegally obtain firearms, and a register was the best way to ensure people could be held to account if a gun went into the wrong hands.
O’Connor expressed concerns about under-reporting of firearms seizures by police, saying the police database lacked cases reported on an unofficial register run by the association. It was likely police were underestimating the scale of the problem due to their record-keeping.
‘‘The whole emphasis on firearms policing has been low . . . firearms has been the poor relation for police for some time.’’