It’s time for police in NZ to carry firearms

New Zealand has a “major problem” with firearms according to Police Association president Chris Cahill and, in my opinion, his concerns are highlighted in data.

Nationally, there were 1694 Armed Offenders Squad callouts last year, up from 1034 in 2017.

Cahill says the increase points to a change in how police deal with events, with AOS more often deployed to help mitigate the risk at the front end.

The fact police have been forced to take this action says it all — frontline officers should be able to carry firearms or given the option.

Police began recording encounters with guns three years ago on the Gun Safe register. Between March 2019 and November 2021, nearly 900 firearms were seized by police in the Bay of Plenty.

Figures showed local firearmrelated deaths (four) and injuries (16) were the third and secondhighest respectively in the country.

New Zealand police do not normally carry guns, but there are some exceptions, such as at international airports or for specialist groups such as AOS. Police policy and practice is for all vehicles to carry firearms in locked cabinets.

That’s all well and good until an officer is caught in a situation where they don’t have time to unlock the cabinet.

It’s critical police are able to defend themselves, and nowadays, when they are encountering more guns than ever, arming them is sensible.

Last year’s association’s biennial survey of 6000 of its 11,000 members showed nearly 75 per cent of all police, and nearly 80 per cent of frontline officers, wanted to be routinely armed.

Some will say arming police will only lead to more criminals being armed and therefore more gun violence in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster are opposed to general arming, despite the latter regarding the escalation in gun-related incidents to be “unnerving”.

Coster says there would need to be a “very high threshold” for him to move away from that position.

But life in New Zealand has changed, with officers already encountering more guns than ever before and the stats backing that up.

It is better for frontline officers to carry guns and not need them than to have them get caught unarmed in a potentially deadly situation. They and the public deserve that protection.