Gun Owners Attack Registration [New Zealand Gun Owners Not Buying Into Gun Registration]

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,3882-2260610,00.html ^ | April 4th 2003

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

Gun owners are dismissing the argument that registering individual guns helps prevent the illegal smuggling of firearms.

The suggestion has come in a report on guns in the South Pacific, "Small Arms in the Pacific," which says New Zealand has the largest stockpile of weapons in the region. It also says New Zealand has the most permissive gun control regime.

It says New Zealand and the United States are unique among developed nations, in not registering individual firearms.

Council of Licensed Firearms Owners chairman John Howat says no-one has ever demonstrated how registration helps. He says the U.S. is not a good example, as anyone over 16 without a criminal record can own a pistol. He says by comparison, New Zealand only allows fit and proper people to own guns.

[Kenno]

From what I've heard, they were leftists from way back when leftists weren't cool, before the Great Depression. Most of the current politicians, including the Prime Minister, come from that tradition. However, they have reversed the trend toward socialism in the past few decades, so that while their foreign policy is friendly to anti-American Third World regimes, their domestic policy is more conservative than that of Australia, which is more pro-American.

[shaggy eel]

Frankly, I'm surprised. I thought NZ was pretty lefty. Don't they refuse port to our nukies?

,,, we're not talking nukes here, just light firearms. For what's perceived as a lefty nation, a hunting permit costs nothing at all and we can hunt 365 days of the year here. Our government doesn't control that freedom.

A rifle has a minimum length of 762mm. Anything less is classed as a pistol. Owning a pistol/handgun is a big deal here. You have to be a registered member of a pistol club and you're only allowed to take the handgun to the gunsmith or firing range in the trunk of your car. That's it - no concealed firearms permits.

[shaggy eel]

bang

[samuel_adams_us]

Is that true in all states?

[samuel_adams_us]

That's what I thought, I know I received a Ruger pistol for my high school graduation present a few years back and I was only 17. I also have friends in Wyoming who have owned pistols since the ripe old age of 8.

[gnarledmaw]

"I'd be surprised if there is general compliance."

Governments dont really care about compliance today, these laws are actually passed to control the number of owners and potential users in future generations. The default setting that way is that if you dont do something about the problem today, there will be no one left to care about it tomorrow and they win.

[dljordan]

shhhh!

[dljordan]

Coming soon to an American city near you.

[supercat]

A rifle has a minimum length of 762mm.

Overall length or barrel length? What about shotguns?

In the U.S., the minimum barrel length for a rifle is 407mm and for a shotgun 458mm. Minimum overall length for a rifle or shotgun is 661mm.

[shaggy eel]

,,, sorry, I should have been clearer on that. Overall legal minimum length for a rifle or shotgun is 762mm.

Duck season is in May. Plenty of shotguns turn up for that.

[supercat]

sorry, I should have been clearer on that. Overall legal minimum length for a rifle or shotgun is 762mm. Is there any barrel length restriction?

[shaggy eel]

,,, as long as the barrel is more than 762mm, you're OK. If it's under that, it's a pistol and it's a big deal obtaining a firearms licence for one of those here.

[supercat]

,,, as long as the barrel is more than 762mm, you're OK. If it's under that, it's a pistol and it's a big deal obtaining a firearms licence for one of those here.

You said before that the 762mm was for overall length. Did you mean "overall length" in this case?

[shaggy eel]

,,, yeah, I've confused you. Sorry. The minimum overall length of a shotgun or rifle must be 762mm.

[Eaker]

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

It's 21 to buy a handgun 18 to own one.

It is also 21 to buy ammunition for a handgun (though there are all sorts of weirdnesses with that rule; someone with a .223 Bushmaster pistol and a semi-auto 9 millimeter carbine would have to be 21 to buy ammo for the Bushmaster but not the carbine.

[supercat]

It is also 21 to buy ammunition for a handgun (though there are all sorts of weirdnesses with that rule; someone with a .223 Bushmaster pistol and a semi-auto 9 millimeter carbine would have to be 21 to buy ammo for the Bushmaster but not the carbine.

How about someone with a Thompson Contender with 14" and 18" barrels in the same caliber and a shoulder stock?

[blackie]

Interesting ... I like our ability to own and use any kind of firearm ... and also carry one concealed (in most states.) :)

[shaggy eel]

,,, that's OK if your hunting's done on the streets. Life's a lot less complicated here.

[blackie]

",,, that's OK if your hunting's done on the streets. Life's a lot less complicated here."

I know that many people don't understand the Second Amendment to our Constitution ... especially non-citizens.

Firearm ownership in this country has nothing to do with hunting; it's a God given Right.