Gun law ‘feel good’ legislation
The owner of the country’s biggest gun store says restricting access to imitation firearms won’t make a scrap of difference to reducing crime. Police Minister Judith Collins has introduced an amendment to the Arms Act which aims to put restrictions on importing air guns that look like real pistols, military style weapons, or restricted weapons.
But Gun City owner Dean Tipple says making fake guns harder to access may simply mean criminals turn to carrying knives. “Politicians feels that they can bring in a law that will make the public feel good,” he told Newstalk ZB. “The aim of all legislation should be to reduce injury or harm.”
Ms Collins says replica weapons are frequently used by criminals and can be easily mistaken for the real thing. “Police say that there have been around about one incident a week where replica firearms have been used for robberies and other criminal activities, and many of these involve the Armed Offenders Squad so they’re very dangerous situations,” she says.
TrueblueNZ 
5 responses to “General Debate 17/04/11”
“Police say that there have been around about one incident a week where replica firearms have been used for robberies and other criminal activities, and many of these involve the Armed Offenders Squad so they’re very dangerous situations,” she says.
Dangerous for the fool with an imitation gun. The problem will of course solve itself as anyone silly enough to point what looks like a firearm at the Armed Offenders Squad will be shot.
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Exactly right, Mark. Sensible gun laws (like Open Carry, for example) will mean it isn’t just the bad guys that have the guns. Then if some fool waves an imitation pistol around a liquor store, it will be a competition to see whether the store keeper or the other customers can put more holes in the fool, and Darwin will be satisfied.
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What GG says.
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A toy gun is “dangerous”?? Only to the dimwit pretending its a real one. Far past time all bogus restraints on firearm ownership were lifted. Law abiding NZers should not have to jump a score of phoney legislative hurdles in order to own a firearm.
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Our politicians are truly thick fucks, it’s always law to the lowest common denominator. Why not go the other way bring in a law letting licenced firearm holders carry concealed weapons, lets see these morons wave their fake guns around then.
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