MPs shut down gun dealer’s statement
An arms dealer speaking on new firearms law has been cut short by MPs after claiming to have sold bullets to the man accused of killing 51 people at two Christchurch mosques.
Paul McNeill fronted a parliamentary select committee on Friday morning, one of many public submitters sharing their views on the law.
The hearing, which was broadcast publicly, quickly took a turn as McNeill described the accused Christchurch shooter’s armoury.
McNeill spoke to the committee through a live-stream, and said he was a licensed firearms dealer and held up a police mail order form.
He said it showed that in December 2017 he sold more than 2300 rounds of ammunition to the accused Christchurch mosque shooter, and listed two semi-automatic firearms the accused owned.
He then described the details of the terror suspect’s firearms licence, the firearms he owned, and speculated on when he entered the country.
‘‘At this time, he has no family, no job, no footprint in the community, and yet he has been vetted as being fit and proper, and obviously given a full licence which allowed him to arm himself,’’ McNeill said.
‘‘The police were aware of his firearms.’’ More than a minute into the five-minute submission, he was cut short.
An MP, who can be heard but not seen in a recording of the select committee, said: ‘‘This is going out publicly, I am not sure we should be hearing this ... This will be evidence in a court case.’’
Labour MP and chair of the committee Deborah Russell asked for the stream to be stopped.
‘‘Mr McNeill, I will get back to you but I can’t have you interrupting this.’’
McNeill had provided a written submission, which has since been taken down from Parliament’s website.