Police Association Comments on Guns Sensationalist
new-zealand-first-party
Fri Oct 23 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Police Association Comments on Guns Sensationalist
Friday, 23 October 2015, 4:13 pm
Press Release: New Zealand First Party
POLICE ASSOCIATION COMMENTS ON GUNS SENSATIONALIST
Comments from the Police Association on semi-automatic firearms are unnecessarily sensationalist, and at odds with the facts, says New Zealand First.
“It is disappointing that Association President Greg O’Connor should conclude his tenure with misleading and incorrect comments,” says Outdoor Recreation Spokesperson Richard Prosser.
“Greg’s remarks that ‘the belief New Zealand was largely free of pistols and semi-automatic weapons was a fallacy’, given the impression that semis are somehow rare, or should be. That is not the case. Semi-automatics are one of the most commonly owned and used types of hunting rifles and shotguns in New Zealand.
“The fact that some semis can be easily turned into restricted MSSAs highlights the farcical nature of the difference between the two, which is purely cosmetic. It’s akin to saying that an automatic car is inherently more dangerous than a manual one, and that an automatic family saloon can be turned into a dangerous racing car, by giving it a spoiler and mag wheels.
“Literally hundreds of thousands of semi-automatic sporting firearms are owned and used regularly by nearly a quarter of a million law-abiding hunters and other Firearms Licence Holders in New Zealand, and none of them are used to commit crimes.
“Greg says you can’t buy a semi-automatic in Australia – that’s not true. Australian laws are a little more restrictive, but it is worth remembering that Australia has much higher rates of firearms crime than New Zealand.
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“Greg has done a terrific job for the police and for the nation over the term of his office, and it’s saddening that he has chosen to go out on a note which is unhelpful and misleading to the general public,” says Mr Prosser.
“We as understand that as longstanding President of the Police Association, he may feel personally disappointed that he had not achieved his long-stated goal of wanting to arm the police,” says New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Police Spokesperson Ron Mark.
“Publishing misleading statements and blurring the truth around firearms issues might be a good way of firing up the political debate, but that does nothing to improve firearms safety. The one thing that could make a positive change in getting illicit firearms off the streets is for the Police to improve their appallingly low resolution rate on stolen firearms, says Mr Mark.
ENDS
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