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IPCA report on police
shooting of civilian gun owner
Due to the number of media enquires concerning
this matter the NSA clarifies the following:
We have discussed the IPCA report with the IPCA
and in particular the details of recommendation #3. The IPCA is not recommending
an audit of civilian guns owners to determine if they are considered fit and
proper persons to be in possession and control of firearms. The IPCA
recommendation is for a random audit of police processing of firearms licence
applications to ensure police arms officer's and other members are correctly
following the standards and guidelines for processing licence applications, and
in particular, pursuant to IPCA recommendation #2 - what should trigger an
escalation of the determination of a licence application; to a senior
commissioned officer.
The NSA supports any measure to ensure that
police officers comply with arms control regulations and apply proper, fair and
cohesive standards in their administration of the arms act, and providing a
public service to civilian guns owners.
18 June 2010 - Members of the Police have been
found to have acted lawfully when they fatally shot Christchurch man Shayne
Richard Sime in June 2009. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has released
its report into the shooting in Wadhurst Place, Burnside, on the evening of 28
June 2009.
The Authority has found that Police acted
lawfully in the execution of their duty, in the defence of themselves, and of
others. Police had been called by neighbours after Mr Sime began firing two
shotguns and a .308 rifle around the cul-de-sac where he lived. Mr Sime fired
approximately 98 shotgun cartridges and 12 shots from the rifle during the
incident. A neighbour was injured by a shotgun blast, one Police officer was
struck in the face by pellets, and other officers had been preparing to fire
tear gas into Mr Sime’s house when he emerged to fire upon them.
Police fired a total of 18 shots at Mr Sime in
defence of themselves and others. Mr Sime was hit by five of them. “There was no
evidence of misconduct or neglect of duty on the part of those involved, and no
decision, act or conduct was contrary to law, unreasonable, unfair or
unjustified,” said Authority Chair, Justice Lowell Goddard.
In other findings, the Authority believes that
greater assurance and transparency in the review of incidents involving the
Armed Offenders Squad would be possible if there was an ability to record their
communications and orders on their encrypted radio channel and in their Command
Centre. However this does not bring into question the actions and
decisions taken in respect of this incident. The Authority also believes that Mr
Sime’s background and medical history casts some doubt on whether he should ever
have been granted a Firearms Licence by Police. On the basis of the
information that was provided in the application file, more diligent inquiries
into his medical condition and background should have been made, and the
decision on his suitability should have been escalated to a senior officer for
final assessment.
The Authority has made three recommendations to
Police:
1) That communications on encrypted radio
channels used by the Armed Offenders Squad and Special Tactics Group should be
recorded.
2) That the training and guidelines provided to
Arms Officers should be reviewed to ensure that there is clear understanding of
the levels at which firearms licences may be routinely issued, and more clearly
determine the point where applications should be referred to senior officers for
adjudication.
3) That there be independent, random auditing
of firearms licence application files to ensure that the guidelines are
consistently and accurately followed.
Read the full
report
Commissioner Broad acknowledges risk of being unarmed.
16 June 2010: Commissioner of Police Howard
Broad has appeared before Parliament's law and order committee and admitted that
within our communities there are violent people who pose considerable risk. Mr
Broad reported that being armed with weapons other than firearms, and courage,
may not be sufficient to mitigate those risks.
Mr Broad did not elaborate on how his proposed
review of access to firearms would amalgamate with the seventh principle of
policing [1] and the duties which are incumbent on every citizen in
the interests of community welfare and existence; but he did acknowledge police
are considering a future that has an additional dimension.
The Police review of access to firearms follows
last years proposal to reduce firearms training to 40 percent.
[1] (Police, at all times, should maintain a
relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that
the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only
members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which
are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and
existence)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Free wake up call available. Things you can do to lose your
gun.
"Our biggest enemy has been ourselves. One
of the biggest mistakes people can make is disunity.. that will draw you down
every time."
Click on the wheelie bins to see what happens
Police issue new advisory concerning semi
automatic firearms.
Still no apology has been forthcoming from Police
regarding the 'check your butt' fiasco but following an NSA request on Monday 17
May 2010 police have issued the following advisory. There are some omissions and
factual mistakes in the police statement; NSA will be working to have these
issues resolved as soon as possible.
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To whom
it may concern
During 2009 Police undertook an awareness programme to let the firearms
community know that we had changed our understanding of what constituted a
military style semi-automatic firearm (MSSA). The change was around
interpretation of the phrase "military pattern free-standing pistol grip".
The 2009 interpretation meant that some semi-automatic firearms previously
considered to be in sporting configuration would instead be classed as MSSAs by
virtue of their grip. People wishing to lawfully own such an MSSA had to ensure
they complied with the legal requirements applicable to MSSAs. .
A High Court
judgment from March this year found that the Police interpretation of "military
pattern free-standing pistol grip" was inconsistent with the Arms Act 1983.
The judgment held that:
·
a pistol grip that is integrated with the stock is not "free-standing"; and
·
"military pattern" means conforms with military specifications.
In order to
mitigate any confusion that may have arisen due to the High Court judgment I
would like to make the following points.
1.
Police are once again treating
dragunov-style stocks as integrated, and therefore not containing a "free
standing" pistol grip. A semi-automatic rifle with a dragunov-style stock
and no other MSSA features is therefore an A Category firearm.
2.
The 2009 Police communication is
still correct in that a non-integrated addition that connects a pistol grip to
the stock or butt in an attempt to make it no longer free standing (such as
adding a metal or plastic rod) will not stop the grip from being "free
standing". Any semi-automatic with that feature will be an MSSA.
3.
People who have already been
issued an E endorsement as a result of the July 2009 communication may choose to
retain an endorsement for an MSSA, or may choose to surrender the endorsement
and (where necessary) return their MSSA to sporting configuration.
4.
Where a person has applied
(solely as a result of the Police July 2009 interpretation of "military pattern
free-standing pistol grip") for an E endorsement prior to the 1 March 2010 High
Court judgment and has the proper security in place, Arms Officers are being
told that the endorsement may be issued and permit to procure issued for the
semi automatic they wish to possess as an MSSA.
5.
Those
people who consider that they have been financially disadvantaged in having to
purchase a higher level of security than they now need as a result of the July
2009 communication can write to the Manager Licensing and Vetting, PO Box 3017,
Wellington. Any consideration for compensation would require the surrendering of
the E endorsement, a return of the semi-automatic to sporting configuration or
disposal of the firearm, provision of receipts for security, and surrender of
the security to Police.
Yours faithfully
Inspector Joe Green
National manager Licensing and Vetting
Police National Headquarters
Link to the electronic document
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Practical remarks from Minister of
Police.
National shooters association is pleased to convey the following commentary from
a newspaper report published in the ODT:
Police Minister Judith Collins said there were
no plans to revert to the old system of registering individual firearms rather
than individual firearms owners, as most licensed owners were responsible,
law-abiding citizens.
"It is seldom these people who use firearms
against police or the public."
Gun crime in New Zealand was "almost always"
committed by unlicensed people who used stolen or illegally obtained weapons.
Requiring individual firearms to be registered
would not necessarily stop criminals from obtaining them.
Forfeiture Policy to be Challenged
After receiving several
complaints from sport shooters the NSA will now take action against the police
policy of forcing civilian gun-owners to forfeit guns in exchange for MSSA
import permits.
The NSA considers the policy to be in conflict with
common law principles of private property ownership . Gun owners wishing to
import MSSA firearms are reminded that import permit applications are free and
no private property should be surrendered. The forfeiture of private property is
not legislated for in the Arms Act or in the Arms Regulations.
Judicial Review - High Court Say "NO" to Police
Legislating
We are pleased to announce that on the 1st of March 2010 Her Honour Justice
Mallon presiding over the High Court at Palmerston North, delivered a decision
which strikes out the recent police policy decision to reclassify A category
semiautomatic firearms.
The decision of the High Court has conclusively
settled the issue of what a military pattern free standing pistol grip is... and
what it is not. The scope of the decision is all pistol grips, therefore by
implication, all semiautomatic firearms are affected by the decision.
At
the time of writing the time limit for lodging an appeal has passed and there
has been no challenge to the High Court decision from the police. There has been
no policy statement from police concerning sporting firearms that were
registered as MSSAs under the illegitimate policy.
There has been no
statement from Police on the issue of the $60,000 + of tax payer funds that were
used to advertise the policy.
TradeMe are now accepting listings for all
“A” category firearms in accordance with the judicial decision. A synopsis of
the decision is available here.
>See our News
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