this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Firearms registry is keeping NZers safe - external review (www.rnz.co.nz)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Dave@lemmy.nz to c/politics@lemmy.nz
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  • An external review shows the firearms registry is keeping people safe, says the authority
  • The ACT Party claims the review is not good enough and has invoked the "agree to disagree" clause in its coalition agreement
  • The NZ Firearms Registry was established in 2023 in response to the Christchurch mosque attacks
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[–] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.nz/f65/register-stay-114724/

Edit

I don't think that the FA register is keeping people safer:

If you were going to commit familicide with a FA, having them registered is not going to stop that, and if you are a gang member or career criminal I doubt that getting a FAL and registering your FA would be high on your list of things to do

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

That is a seriously loaded post you linked. While I can find points I agree with, it's manipulative and has a clear agenda.

Here is one from the other side I could also describe the same way, and points to specifics for it's claims: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/117347138/why-a-gun-register-will-make-us-safer

If you were going to commit familicide with a FA, having them registered is not going to stop that,

Is that a common thing in NZ? I would expect gun crime (e.g. burglary with a gun, gangs or adversaries shooting at each other, etc) would be a bigger portion and the sort of thing this is targeting.

However, if the police became aware of a threat like this they would at least know if there was a gun in the house.

and if you are a gang member or career criminal I doubt that getting a FAL and registering your FA would be high on your list of things to do

This is what the fire arms register is there for. If you find someone with a gun and no licence, you know exactly how they got it. You can either trace it directly to a burglary, or you will find their known associate got it for them. The article Iinked points out most fire arm thefts are from careless owners leaving them unsecured, and having their name linked to the gun may encourage them to be more careful.

Personally I would like to see some more solid evidence about the impact of the register, but for minimal cost of running it and some extra paperwork when buying/selling I think it deserves to stick around until a clear trend emerges.

[–] absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz 3 points 2 weeks ago

There is also the point that if police get called to a disturbance at an address, they will know if there are likely to be guns in the house.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 weeks ago

Just adding on to this, I found this study of Australia's firearm reform.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Fatal-Firearm-Incidents-Before-and-After-1996-Chapman-Stewart/9146a5543654d64227c688abc8a1a821f665039c

An analysis of firearm deaths between 1979 and 2013 showed that 13 mass shootings (homicides in which at least 5 persons died, not including the perpetrator) took place in the 18 years preceding and including the Port Arthur massacre; none has occurred in the 22 years since

Before 1996, approximately 3 mass shootings took place every 4 years. Had they continued at this rate, approximately 16 incidents (SD, 4) would have been expected since then by February 2018.

Now this could easily be attributed to the other changes made. The study was not looking specifically at a register but at all the changes made:

Provisions included uniform gun registration, repudiation of self-defense as a legitimate reason to hold a firearm licence, locked storage, a ban on private gun sales and civilian ownership of semiautomatic rifles and pump-action shotguns, and standardized penalties

I would welcome anyone that can find a study on gun registration independent of other changes, this is the closest I have found: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00009-eng.pdf

It shows after Canada ended registration for rifles and similar in 2012 gun crime rates slowly rose after slowly falling up to that point, but I am not convinced this is related (and the document makes no connection as far as I can tell). Canada still registers hand guns and similar, which are the main guns used in crime, so this is in no way definitive one way or the other.