Gun checks strict in Taranaki

BY MATT RILKOFF

Tough licensing regulations make getting your hands on a military-style semi-automatic rifle incredibly difficult unless you are a criminal.

In which case, says New Plymouth gun dealer and owner of Ski and Sports Centre Jeff Horn, you live outside the law and are free to acquire one without going through the normal strict licensing procedures.

Jan Molenaar shot and killed Senior Constable Len Snee and wounded two other officers and a civilian when police conducted a drug search at his home in Napier last Thursday.

After a tense 50-hour standoff, police found numerous military-style semi-automatic rifles, two sawn-off, pump-action shotguns and a significant supply of ammunition at the residence.

A gunsmith has said most of the firearms appeared to have been modified.

Molenaar had held general and collector's firearms licences but he was one of the 50,000 whose licences expired in 2002, 10 years after the government got rid of lifetime licences in favour of a 10-year renewable system.

"Criminals live outside the law," Mr Horn said. "Make as many laws as you want, it won't matter a damn to them."

Police said people who had failed to renew their licence by 2002 had it revoked and a file on each individual was sent to police in the district in which they were last known to live, with the expectation it would be followed up.

New Plymouth police arms officer Vaughan Watson said while he could not comment on what had happened in Napier, where it appeared Molenaar had fallen through the cracks, it was unlikely to happen in Taranaki.

"Anyone with an endorsement on their licence that allows them to own military-style semi-automatics would be visited during our audit checks on them so we are able to keep track of where the guns are."

If they decided against renewing their licence they must provide proof their weapons had been disposed of correctly, bring them in to the police, or expect a visit from police looking for those weapons, Mr Watson said.

"And you can't just get one of these guns because you want one. You have to demonstrate a need for one and that could be a goat or deer culler or something like that," he said. "You have to be clear though, there are lawbreakers and there are law abiding people."

In Taranaki there are five officers contracted with carrying out background checks on people applying for gun licences.

Applicants for a standard licence must be at least 18 years old and provide two references. Those applying for further endorsements allowing them to own military-style semi-automatic rifles or pistols require two further references. The process must be repeated every 10 years.

If any licence holder was charged with a violent crime they would lose their right to own a firearm, Mr Watson said.

Taranaki Hunting and Fishing owner Wayne Fairhurst said the most common guns bought in Taranaki were .22 rifles and shotguns for duck hunting. He did not sell military-style semi-automatic weapons at his New Plymouth shop although he could order them for someone with the appropriate licence.

Gun owners' homes were often targeted by thieves, he said, with those guns then entering into the hands of criminals.

"And they are the wrong people to be targeting with licences. They use them to hold up banks and things like that and there isn't much you can do about those fellas."

Neither Taranaki Hunting and Fishing nor New Plymouth Ski and Sports Centre sell pistols or semi-automatic military-style firearms over the counter.

There was little interest in such firearms in Taranaki, the shop owners said.

Military-style firearms

A military-style semi-automatic firearm has one or more of the following features:

-Folding or telescopic butt.

-Magazine that holds, or has the appearance of holding, more than 15 cartridges of .22 rimfire or 7 cartridges for others.

- Bayonet lug.

- Free-standing military-style pistol grip.

- Flash suppressor.

 

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