It's not that much of a palava getting a gun licence. I got one the day I turned 16 (I was a competitive small bore shooter 16 years ago) and have kept it ever since.
The process was long-ish and the hoops to jump through a little far apart but, at the end of it, it was a good way to weed out the tyre kickers and see who was serious about wanting a licence. It really is not that hard at all. Pay money, fill out forms, go to seminars, have the police come and talk to you and someone who can vouch for your sanity and then wait until it arrives in the mail.
I don't think we need to make it harder to get a licence. Or even buy firearms for that matter. It's about education. While doing my seminar we were shown some fairly gruesome photos of what can happen to a human body with various calibres... I have not forgotten those images and they are pretty bright in my mind when I use any firearm today. Too many people seem to have lost sight of what a firearm does to a person. Perhaps the period should be shorter between expiry dates. It's 10 years now I think, so maybe make it 5 (or less) and have people redo the seminars as part of it. At the moment it's just a case of having the police come and inspect your house and talk to people again.
I don't know, I have a licence but don't even own a firearm at the moment so what would I know. *shrug*
kobiak: is not it a nightmare to get gun licence in NZ, already?
legally...yes.
Illegally it is quite easy if you know the right (or wrong) people.
I was in Australia when the Port Author massacre happened, the government decided that destroying all semi automatic weapons was the answer to an idiot with an UNREGISTERED firearm going on a rampage.
In the end the law abiding citizens lost their pride and joy, while the criminals still had their guns.
The government turned the tragedy into a circus by implementing a knee-jerk law that they knew couldn't have even possible stopped it from happening.
Thank goodness NZ is a lot smarter than Australia.
NZ is fast heading down that road AAB3 introduced a clause that allows police commissioner at the wave of a pen to declare ANY firearm an MSSA..and thus require registration, special storage, endorsement etc etc. Your bolt actions, and puny .22 could all be declared an MSSA at any time, and who has a spare $15,000+ laying around to take it to high court and argue ??.
If you want some scary reading have read of this (FYI NZ is a part of this and has even ratified it)
Its pretty clear the end goal is complete removal of firearms from public use....then you get into the slippery slope of an armed government and unarmed people.
I also find it interesting that the NZ Government contribute $150,000 to an NGO to spread the UN mandate and its filthy disarmament disease.
$150,000 would also go a fair way to subsidising safer storage, funding safety awareness, improving the firearms system, or dare I say funding and promoting the sport. But hey that will never happen.
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