Recent shooting in Sth Aucks

Isn't it getting just a lil toooo casual the amount of people carrying guns and using them as weapons. We hear about more and more shootings now then we ever did before. Its as if anyone can go to the local shopping centre and buy a gun and then do as they please with it....! Are we becoming like parts of America....where you dont leave the house without your keys, phone, wallet and weapon..............?

You know it isn't all that difficult to get an actual gun in this country.

It's getting ammunition that can prove to be the harder task.

I know its not all that difficult but it is getting out of control the amount of people CARRYING these with them all the time...........

The gun used in the recent cop killing was a gas powered air rifle which yes you do not need a licence to buy one. Surprisingly these are now powerful enough to kill and as we were informed on the news this morning they are looking into a law change RE: Air Rifles.

the gun isn't to blame though

I mean, you could fashion a handy little weapon out of a teaspoon if you were enough of a crack smoking fiend with violent and psychotic tendencies to do so

that teenage kid that was killed in justamere place in clendon recently was killed with a hammer to the head but you didn't hear politicians talk about banning hammers

there are a tonne of other common household items that could be easily modified to do some serious harm

without trying to sound too cynical, given that the election is looming near I think this is just some political rhetoric as people have been saying crime and violence are high on their agenda and they want to feel that politicians are responding to these incidents

but some kneejerk legislation isn't going to do a hell of a lot overall, if these fiends want to get their hands on a weapon then they will

Oh exactly and i totally agree with you, its not like this is never going to happen again whether it be a hammer, gun, knife, bat or something they found in the rubbish on the side of the road its gunna happen.............and yes street violence and random acts of violence are becoming increasingly higher BUT my question was is it just me OR are more and more people carrying guns as a weapon.......

You always used to hear of bats being used or knives or hammers etc in random attacks we would hear about on the news but not so much random shootings.......no there is more then 1 a week!

if it hadn't been a cop the person who done the shooting would be being hailed as a hero by the serious sentencing trust et al

the moral of the story is don't fuck with private property - in this respect we are becoming more like the US every day

I'm an advocate for a banning of personal gun ownership in NZ. There is absolutely no good reason whatsoever to own a gun in NZ (other than in rural situations).

There should be a moratorium date set after which any possession of a gun during a crime (used or not) should be regarded the same as murder, i.e. starting at ten years jail time. Any possession of a gun at all - automatic jail-time.

The black-market will exist but it would be very easy to restrict ammunition (and ammo components) sale to the point where it would be mega expensive.

In Japan gun ownership is mega restricted and has all sorts of conditions on it - and their gun crime is almost zero - even compared to NZ. The fact we're allowed them at all is just a silly hangover from old times.

R

Theres lots of things we dont *need*, like cars that can do over 120kph, cigarettes, alcohol etc.

Shooting is a sport to many people (like fishing is). I have no problem with much tighter gun control but the reality is the criminals dont pay much heed to gun laws and they a) have them already b) can get them into the country.

Enforcement is the best shot and more enforcement/ police focus/search rights on gangs/organised crime.

You may as well ban tire irons and baseball too.

- Ciggie are addictive and in any case will be all-but illegal within the next 20 years. Ciggies also don't instantly kill people

- Cars serve a practical purpose to almost 100% of people.

- Guns serve a practical use to use to about 0.0001% of normal people.

Criminals would pay heed to gun control. Every time you search a house, instead of a discovered shotgun being a case of check their licence/storage methods.. it would be oh.. five years jail for you. It might push them underground/make them more careful/secretive, but it also would give much bigger avenues to nail people who get caught.

People always harsh jail times don't work but, in fact it does - very well - for the sort of offenders who don't/wont rehabilitate and really just need to be locked away for everyone else' safety, not their own punishment.

R

excellent point bob_d

There are those people that have genuine reasons for having a gun.....on farms and for hunting etc etc these people are the ones that follow all procedures in place to get there gun licence and keep it safe from everyone else and use it for a non harming purpose! We cant punish these people!!!
Also it is sooo easy for a KID to go and purchase a bb gun and "bullets" so what is this teaching our kids.........? Parents should be supervising these kids IF they have one instead of letting them and their friends run around with these bb guns thinkking that it is all alright!

You know, for someone who capers about biggie as some kind of freedom loving right whinger, you are pretty keen on banning things. Ban gun, because YOU don't think there is any good reason to own them. Close clubs early because YOU don't think there is any good reason for them to stay open longer... So really, are you just a selfish cock who thinks the world ought to be organised around you? I suppose that WOULD qualify you as a good ol' right wing white boy...

Generally speaking, weapons are a tool like any other - shovel, carving knife, broom handle. However, unlike those tools killing is not a secondary, abusive use - it is the primary purpose of the weapon. We recognise this by placing various restrictions around who can own a firearm and what type of firearm they can possess. But you know what? It is evil people who ultimately abuse the weapon - be it a 757 on 9/11 or an air rifle killing a police officer - and so ultimately it is futile to try and ban things. The only solution for a free society is to try hard to prevent evil people doing their evil deeds, and at the same time not infantilising the population by accepting that being free citizens means sometimes evil people will do evil things.

Fishy, as a so-called leftwinger, when are you going to donate your feudal estates to the state? Or the poor, directly?

You know jack and shit about left wing politics. You'd cry if chardonnay ran short but you sure as fuck aren't on the pickets for the unions.

I just knew biggie's fat socialist would pipe in here. Bravo.

We have hundreds of accidental gun firings a year in NZ, a couple of which each year kill a mate. So the dangers are not only "evil people who ultimately abuse the weapon" - the weapon is a volatile item even in what you could regard as safe, level-headed hands.

So far as guns go, there isn't a practical use for the by the general public - so why not make the place safer - and it would be - by making them very much harder to get (and buy ammo) than they are now. Gun crime is on the rise... is this because guns are getting more dangerous? No. Is it because they are cheaper and more menacing? Yes. Do people get severely punished for using guns in crime? Not really, even though it makes pretty good sense to me.

As for the clubbing comments. Go clubbing overseas a bit more then make a case. I have in many countries and the ones with restricted hours have the better club-scenes in my experiences. Why not investigate the idea here. There are so many pluses and so few negatives... if the only reason not to it a blind because you "don't think there is any good reason for them to stay open longer" - That sounds like a Labour mentality if ever I heard one - telling people how to live their lives.

R

qft


But I agree with Rob_W. Ban all hand guns, IMO. Except sport ones which need to be kept at the gun club, and allow farmers to own a bolt action. Nobody else should be allowed one. Sure, crims will still be able to get a gun if they really want one, but it doesn't mean you have to make it easy for them.

Personally, I disagree with RobW. Guns act as an equaliser; a man walking home by himself and accosted by a dozen South Aucklanders waving hammers can defend himself with a pistol, something he couldn't do otherwise.