Mosque findings keenly awaited
News that police mistakes may have helped put guns into the hands of the man who murdered 51 people in Christchurch mosques underlines that the findings of a royal commission of inquiry can’t come soon enough.
The March 15 shootings in 2019 were this country’s deadliest terrorist attack, and shattered a common belief that such acts of mass killing were not possible in New Zealand.
Belief that the country had systems to keep guns away from those who would kill on such a scale hangs by a thread, after police sources told Stuff of a series of basic vetting blunders. Blunders such as reportedly not speaking to a family member, instead talking to two people who met him on an internet chatroom.
Failings that may have provided the confessed murderer with a licence to acquire guns, and with such horrific consequences.
How Brenton Tarrant obtained a firearms licence will undoubtedly have been laid out before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch Mosque attacks, which is due to hand its findings to the Government by July 31. The commission announced on March 20 that it was preparing to finalise its work over the following five weeks, only to be delayed the next day by the start of Covid-19 restrictions.
By its March 2020 update, the commission had conducted more than 340 meetings and interviews, with many of those who took part summonsed to provide information privately.
The possibility that the current licensing system is so broken should be a call to political parties to unite behind changes to firearms legislation, with only one focus – protecting the public.
During the passage of the Arms Legislation Bill, parties had held out over particular changes, with NZ First wanting an independent licensing agency, something which Labour now supports. ACT has opposed a firearms registry, among other changes, wanting the Government to pause the legislation until after the commission’s findings are released.
One of the aims of the bill is to set out specific criteria to guide police in determining whether a person seeking a firearms licence is ‘‘fit and proper’’ for such a privilege. Based on what police sources have told Stuff, it would be a critical tightening of process.
The royal commission’s findings were originally due by April 30, but the three-month delay pitches it now just six weeks before the September 19 general election.
It would be easy to criticise the push to enact new legislation as election-related. The election date is 18 months since the murders at Masjid An-Nur (also known as Al Noor) Mosque and the Linwood Mosque.
The reported failings in the firearms vetting process are an urgent reminder of the need for change.
The royal commission’s report, whenever the Government releases it, will undoubtedly include other recommendations.
Natural justice is the key criterion as it works through the final version of its findings. ‘‘After weighing up all the evidence, we may need to make adverse findings about people or organisations – we must let them know so they can respond,’’ said commissioner Sir William Young, on March 20.
If it takes years to set up a new firearms licensing authority, and new legislation does in fact have to wait until after September’s election, then assurance needs to be given that the current system will hold up.
How the killer obtained a firearms licence will undoubtedly have been laid out before the commission ...