Police gun form hit by trolls

The online form for people to hand in their illegal guns has been shut down for overseas users after a flood of fake submissions – but it appears the error is affecting some local networks too.

A police spokeswoman said the form was blocked for people based overseas and should work for people here but three Stuff staff in two locations were unable to access the form from the company’s network. The form was accessible through personal smartphones though.

Another police form where people could report information in relation to the attacks had been removed because of spam content, the spokeswoman said.

‘‘If people still want to report anything, they should contact their local police station.’’

Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said two more groups of semi-automatic guns would be classified as militarystyle semi-automatic firearms after Christchurch’s terror attacks.

More than 250,000 New Zealanders own a firearm, many now illegally after changes to gun laws. Police asked people to surrender their illegal firearms as quickly as possible.

They asked people to register their intention to do so through an online form or by calling police on 0800 311 311.

Since the form was created on Thursday, it appears opponents to the law change, many based overseas, have flooded the police website with fake notifications.

‘‘Some people have decided it is a good use of their time to misuse the form and submit ‘fake’ notifications to hand in weapons,’’ Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said on Friday.

Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny

‘‘In the current environment, this is unacceptable.

‘‘ These vexatious forms are a huge waste of police time and resources, which could be put to better use.’’

Some overseas-based pro-guns websites boasted about the trolling after noticing the form had shut down to overseas users: ‘‘It’s a small victory and the bigger battle lies ahead, but it’s one battle in a wider war.

‘‘The message has been sent by the global firearm community,’’ one website author wrote.

Another such website celebrated the ‘‘massive amounts of online trolling’’.

The 0800 number dedicated to people wanting to hand in their guns has been busy since Thursday. It had received 854 calls as of yesterday morning. An amnesty is in place that allows people to surrender their guns without legal action against them. It will run until further notice.

‘‘These vexatious forms are a huge waste of police time.’’