Duck for cover: gun laws up for debate

OPINION: Forget the polarising issues of euthanasia, abortion and drug law reform. 

Both Labour and National are drawing battle lines over another problem, and stirring a very angry hornets' nest: firearms laws.

The Arms Act dates back to 1983 and hasn't had a significant refresh for 26 years.

Police Minister Stuart Nash has requested a review of the legislation. Police will deliver their advice to him next week.

READ MORE:
* Firearms owners mobilise over gun control
* NZ's battle over semi-automatics 
* Firearm importers prepare for court battle with police

National, sensing an opportunity, has organised a roadshow aimed at gun owners. 

The debate about gun control policy in New Zealand has never reached the level of the "culture wars" raging for the soul of America.

But it does get heated, and more than a little toxic. Successive police ministers have been accused of bowing to the gun lobby.

Recommendations on firearms control by Justice Thorp in 1997 were never passed into law. An Arms Amendment Bill, introduced in 2005, languished until it was dismissed in 2012. 

And every year since 2010, government proposals for changes to legislation have been drawn up, and then quietly dropped. 

In 2017, a year-long parliamentary select committee into the possession of illegal firearms offered up 20 recommendations. Two-thirds were rejected by then-police minister Paula Bennett, who is a keen hunter. 

It's also true that she was keen to avoid a hot potato in an election year. 

She was not alone in her reluctance to deal with gun regulation: NZ First rejected the select committee inquiry findings too. 

So, now Nash – who sat on the select committee and was vocal about the need for greater control – has grasped the nettle. 

Police are increasingly nervous about a number of trends. One in five frontline officers are now confronted with a firearm every year. Two terrifying incidents in Kawerau and Morrinsville in 2016 saw seven police officers shot at.

There has been a increase in the presentation of guns at commercial robberies and in drug-related activity.

Anecdotally, officers now rarely investigate a gang-related crime if a gun is not present. Organised crime and gangs now use semi-automatics as their weapon of choice, according to reports from the frontline.

Police are also seeing an increase in the possession of semi-automatic firearms. Officially, of the 1.5 million firearms owned in New Zealand, just 15,000 are military-style semi-automatic rifles, or MSSAs.

They must be registered. To hold an MSSA, you need an E-category endorsement of a standard firearm licence, which requires references and substantial checks. These military-style firearms and pistols are already subject to good traceability and accountability measures. There are strict rules around storage.

But it's not that simple. Firearms held under a basic A-category licence can now easily be converted to MSSAs, using unregulated parts.

In July 2017, Quinn Patterson killed Natanya and Wendy Campbell at his home near Whangarei. He had illegally acquired an A-category semi-automatic through using a friend's firearms licence, and then transformed it into an MSSA by adding a high-capacity magazine.

Police are pushing for tighter regulation of these parts, and have used Patterson's crime as an example. 

They'd also like a compulsory register – an idea that has met with great opposition from the firearms community. Some argue such a measure is ineffective as criminals aren't minded to register their illegally held weapons. 

But to advance their case, police have pointed to the murder of  road worker George Taiaroa, the so-called stop-go killing. Quinton Winders had claimed his gun was stolen. But he'd voluntarily registered the gun, and that allowed police to trace the bullet  that killed 67-year-old Taiaroa to very similar firearms.

It is a very sad fact that changes to gun regulation only come about in the wake of a tragedy: Aramoana, Port Arthur, the Dunblane massacre.  

Since 1992, politicians have backed nervously away. Frustrated at a lack of progress, police have flexed their muscles by making administrative changes.

For example, this year they refused import applications for AR15 semi-automatic rifles and parts, infuriating retailers who have threatened court action. 

It's only served to drive a wedge between police and legal gun-owners, who believe the cops are being heavy-handed and acting arbitrarily.

Both sides do agree the laws are messy, and are applied inconsistently from district to district. 

The situation has now become untenable, and the legislation so outdated that MPs will have to step in. If they don't, they risk being accused of hand-wringing in the wake of any gun-related tragedy.

The policy work for Nash is being led by Deputy Commissioner Mike Clements, who accepts police need to build a bridge with lawful gun-owners.

As well as recommendations to ministers on legislative change, some other ideas will go in front of the police executive management team before Christmas. 

"Police can, and intend to, be better with regards to how we administer the act," he said. "We have been the subject of criticism and some of that is fair, and some is unfair.

"We have made some changes, like centralising our processing around some of the aspects around permits to imports. Up until recently, that was done in the regions and you got inconsistency which resulted in frustration ... That's part of the journey we have to go on."

POLITICAL OPPORTUNITY

National sees an opportunity to step in AND be the bridge. 

Police spokesman Chris Bishop is using 30 "gun forums" to develop fresh policy ahead of the 2020 election.  He's noticed that many legal gun-holders are keen on tougher punishments for those who use firearms in crime, particularly gang members. 

But policy development isn't the only motive. There are around 250,000 gun owners in New Zealand – a sizeable constituency mainly of men aged 40-70.

They are active, and politically motivated, as the backlash over the recent South Island tahr cull demonstrated.

Many were NZ First voters, who feel abandoned by Winston Peters' party over the cull. 

The meetings are a great way to galvanise support and hoover up names and contact details for a election database. 

The gun lobby is sensitive to anti-firearms rhetoric and believes police, and in particularly the Police Association, overstate the threat. 

They have a point. In the past two decades, the number of gun deaths in New Zealand has decreased, and gun murders are typically 10-15 per cent of all homicides. Violent crime offences caused by firearms is about 1.4 per cent. By way of context, New Zealand has some of the highest gun ownership in the Western world. 

Owners worry requirements and admin will become onerous for lawful enthusiasts, while penalties for firearm offending remain weak. 

Most gun-owners are moderate – but those with extreme views or a persecution complex shout loudest.

The debate quickly tips into nasty, with journalists and critics targeted and smeared online. Violent and misogynistic abuse was recently directed at Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage over the tahr cull. 

There is a wide gulf between those who use guns for work, sport or pest control and those who abhor them.

The challenge for MPs is not to align with one side, exploit those differences and drive a wedge. And then perhaps we might get consensus and meaningful change, that doesn't unfairly penalise law-abiding firearms owners.