Despite Confiscation, New Zealand Sees Most Gun Crime in a Decade

Despite Confiscation, New Zealand Sees Most Gun Crime in a Decade
Despite Confiscation, New Zealand Sees Most Gun Crime in a Decade

U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- On April 5, 2019, three days after New Zealand’s Arms Amendment Act 2019 advanced from its first reading in parliament, NRA-ILA noted that:

“[g]iven the abundant research on Australia’s similar gun confiscation efforts, New Zealand officials can expect that their gun control measures will do little more than trample the natural rights of gun owners​…”

This week the first evidence vindicating this position came in when Radio New Zealand (RNZ) published figures it had obtained from the government showing that for last year crime involving firearms was the highest it had been since 2009.

According to an RNZ article titled, “Rates of gun crimes and killings using guns at highest levels in a decade in 2019,” last year “there were 3540 occasions where an offender was found with a gun​.” The report went on to note that “in both of the last two years, the rate of deadly incidents involving a firearm was the highest it had been since 2009” and that “[t]he number of guns seized by police is also on the rise, up almost 50 percent on five years earlier at 1263 last year.​” Making clear that the figures cited in the article were not skewed by the horrific shooting in Christchurch, the report noted that “[t]he 15 March terror attacks were listed as two separate firearms-related incidents.​”

On March 21, 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern targeted New Zealand’s law-abiding gun owners by unilaterally halting the sale of semi-automatic centerfire firearms that utilize detachable magazines to normal gun owners. The Arms Amendment Act 2019 was passed into law on April 10 and received royal assent the following day. The key provision of the legislation outlawed possession of all semi-automatic centerfire rifles and their magazines.

In order to enforce the ban, the legislation provided for a firearm confiscation scheme. As with Australia’s 1996 national firearms “buyback” program,” law-abiding New Zealand gun owners were forced to turn their lawfully-acquired property over to the government for a set amount of compensation. The program ran from June 20-December 20, 2019. Compliant gun owners were treated to poor compensation and a breach of their personal data.

At the end of the confiscation program the government had collected roughly 56,000 firearms. A June 2019 report from consulting firm KPMG had estimated that there were as many as 173,000 newly-prohibited firearms in the country. New Zealand gun rights group, the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners estimated that 170,000 prohibited firearms were still in the hands of Kiwis after the confiscation program.

It should come as no surprise that New Zealand’s new gun control laws haven’t appeared to affect gun crime. After all, gang members told the government as much.

At the outset of the gun control push, the Waikato branch president of the Mongrel Mob street gang, Sonny Fatu, made clear to the press that his gang and others have no intention of obeying further gun laws. The gang leader stated, “Will gangs get rid of their weapons? No. Because of who we are, we can’t guarantee our own safety.”

Moreover, as noted in the April 5, 2019, NRA-ILA article, the research on Australia’s confiscation program is clear. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice reviewed the available research on Australia’s firearm confiscation program and issued a memorandum that concluded that the effort had no effect on crime generally. In coming to this determination, the memorandum cited work from University of Maryland Professor Peter Reuter and Jenny Mouzos, aptly titled, “Australia: A Massive Buyback of Low-Risk Guns.”The NIJ memo made clear that the researchers “found no effect on crime.”

With this new data it is tempting to call the New Zealand’s gun control efforts a failure. However, to do so one must assume that Ardern and her government’s goal was to reduce crime perpetrated with firearms rather than to attack the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Concerning the latter, Ardern’s gun control has proven an undeniable success.

 


National Rifle Association Institute For Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)

About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

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Get Out

The anti-gunners in charge of New Zealand’s gun control efforts were told it was going to be a huge failure. Their own gun crime statistics prove that the criminal element won’t turn in their firearms.

They’re obviously “Stuck on stupid” and my guess is they’ll double down and have another round of gun confiscations.

vbirddogs

And they will continue to see more gun related crime increase, just like Australia did!!! Criminals now KNOW the more and more people will not have their firearms to protect them, so it becomes open season for criminals to commit crime.

nrringlee

The magical thinking practiced by progressives and leftists might be a source of good feelings but it is never a good source of effective public policy. This is one such example. The answer always likes in maximizing liberty for the majority while focusing efforts on controlling the violent and corrupt minority. Generalized bans of anything simply creates cartels and black markets and deprives the honest majority of rights. In that, we see the real intent of the power mad. Power. That is the game. Power.

nobodyuknow

Power grab by Ardern, et al, which is a COLOSSAL FAILURE!!! WHAT, IF ANYTHING, ARE YOU KIWI’S GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS??!!! MY BET IS THAT YIOU WILL JUST SIT BACK AND TAKE IT!!!!

james

What was written about not paying attention to history.

james

Outlaw guns from law abiding citizens and only the criminals will have them.

gregs

seems like this was a well thought up piece of legislation, not at all influenced by hatred, feelings and tryanny.

nobodyuknow

gregs . . . You truly are a D.A.!

Finnky

@nobodyuknow – Sarcasm my friend. It’s not always obvious in written form – but sometimes it is clear, as in @gregs post.

@gregs – Let this be a lesson. Write what you mean, otherwise those who don’t already know you well may not know what you actually mean. I’m guilty of frequently using similar style of communication, but its bitten me in the butt too many times!

joefoam

The firearms ban was a success. The gov’t there now has a registry of all weapons so that when it comes time for total confiscation the job will be made easy. If any of the fools that went along with this had opened a history book they would have known this would be the outcome.