Welcome to Christchurch – Gun City
A giant ‘‘Gun City’’ logo at a major entrance to Christchurch sends an ‘‘unintended message’’ about the city, Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel has said.
Gun City opened its second Christchurch store by the Sockburn roundabout early last month, with the 45-square-metre sign impossible for citybound motorists to miss.
The store development, which was not publicly notified, prompted complaints from nearby residents, but council staff at the time said the Resource Management Act did not allow the council to regulate the activities.
Gun City owner David Tipple remains unapologetic, asking if the store was ‘‘as large a concern’’ to the city as parenting.
In Dalziel’s July email to Tipple, obtained by The Press under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, she asked if he would talk to her about the store’s message.
‘‘What I would like to discuss is whether you would be open to a conversation about the message of Christchurch being a ‘Gun City’ at one of our major entrance points to the city,’’ she wrote.
Referencing the March terror attack at two city mosques, in which 51 people were murdered and dozens injured, Dalziel continued: ‘‘Councillors have friends in the Muslim community and you know they are not opposed to the sale of guns per se . . . It’s the scale of the signage at such a dominant gateway at this time, and the unintended message it would send.’’
Dalziel also asked council staff to look at ways to restrict gun store locations and operations in the same way they do liquor outlets, but so far it appears little can be done. Her viewpoint was supported by Hornby councillor Jimmy Chen, who yesterday told The Press : ‘‘If you have this advertisement, Gun City, it look likes this city is a city of gunshots but actually this is a city of peace, a city of inclusion.’’
Tipple said he did not meet with the mayor over the store signage but would not say why. He said the signage was not newsworthy. ‘‘Do you think it’s worth wasting your time and my time on it?’’ he said. ‘‘You ask [Dalziel] why we never had a meeting. The most common factor in all the mass murders is lack of [a] biological father upbringing and violent video games.’’
The emails obtained by The Press show Dalziel’s adviser, Darel Hall, looked at similar frameworks for restricting tobacco and alcohol promotion.
Another option was to look at guns as
‘‘It’s the scale of the signage . . . and the unintended message it would send.’’
Lianne Dalziel
a ‘‘health promotion issue’’ and test if the Health Promotion Agency was looking at playing a role, Hall told Dalziel in an email. ‘‘This wouldn’t address the Gun City type of issue but would work to reduce demand for guns.’’
Councillors asked staff if a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority could be made, but staff advised it would probably not be upheld as complaints about Gun City billboards before the attacks were not.
After the council received complaints about the Gun City signs in July, council resource consents unit team leader Jeremy Rusbatch advised councillors the council could not change a decision once made.
‘‘The only avenue for anyone to challenge it would be a judicial review to the High Court and they’d need to find that there was an error of law in the decision,’’ he wrote.
Dalziel, who hopes to win a third term as mayor this local body election, was unavailable for further comment yesterday.
Chen said the council could not take action with the district plan, but encouraged affected residents to complain to the authority.
The authority’s chief executive, Hilary Souter, said it did not appear a complaint had been received about the store. The authority could not take action if a sign only had a company name. It could take action if there was a contentious claim or image on the sign.
A digital billboard and freehold signs were approved for the Gun City store by the council, but have not been installed yet. Tipple would not say why the signs had not been installed.
ChristchurchNZ general manager of marketing, brand and communications, Tim Loftus, would not comment specifically on the Gun City signage, but said: ‘‘ChristchurchNZ promotes our city as one of inclusivity and exploration. We are welcoming and progressive, and inclusive of all who visit O¯ tautahi Christchurch.’’
Mayoral candidate Darryll Park did not respond to a request for comment.