The “GunSafe” firearm data withheld from the New Zealand Herald for two years proves that the firearm confiscation following the Christchurch terror attack did not work, and the Government was wrong to act against licensed firearm owners.
COLFO Spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says that if the GunSafe data is correct, illegal firearms were never handed in by criminals.
“This data, withheld for two years, shows the buyback did not make New Zealanders safer. Illegally owned firearms stayed illegally owned, in homes and on the street, ready to be used.
“Licensed firearm owners were vilified for complaining about the buyback and rule changes, and were maligned in an infamous cover of the Police Association magazine.
“Two years later the Police’s own data proves that we were right; a buyback would, as in every other country they have been tried, only recover the legal firearms, not the underground firearms that posed the real risk to everyone’s safety.”
GunSafe data was promised to be public and easily accessible to help guide policy. Police Association President Chris Cahill originally praised the Police for creating what he called a “dashboard of stats showing the “firearms event” landscape for the whole country.”
Devereux-Mack says GunSafe data has been selectively presented and misused since it was created in 2019. COLFO, the New Zealand Herald, and many others frustrated at the misuse have had to turn to the Official Information Act to extract data from Police.
“The Police have presented parts of the data when they think it shows the threat to themselves, or when implication that firearms are widespread will help policy changes.
“It is unreliable and should not be used as evidence supporting tighter restrictions on legal firearm owners nor supporting general arming of Police,” Devereux-Mack says.
The data includes all manner of events, even callouts where firearms are never found. Even the Police Association noted in 2020 that recording of events is erratic.
Data reliability is undermined by broad criteria that leads to ‘events’ being entered into the Gun Safe system. Entries include times a firearm is suspected but not present, times where there is a ‘perceived firearms risk’ but no actual firearm involved, times a subject is known to have a firearm – but Police do not encounter one, and for events when there is something that looks like a real firearm, but isn’t.
Event details are either combined in rough categories or inputted into free text fields which Police noted in an Official Information Act response to COLFO last year, made it too time consuming to formulate into more useful data.
COLFO supports frontline officers and their work on operation Tauwhiro which is necessary to tackle criminal use of firearms. Devereux-Mack says this is where Police should be investing their efforts and not the administration of the firearms licensing system where police have clearly shown that they are an inefficient disaster.
Ardern and Cahill used the Mosque tragedy as an excuse to rid of firearms off bonafide legitimate firearms licensed holders who have all been scrutinized by the NZ Police for security reasons and mental issues. Ardern also used the tragedy to illuminate her image on the world stage. Was following the UN 21 Agenda and trod all over firearm holders rights Sports, Etc. I handed in some of my Grandfathers, Fathers heritage firearms that did not fit her agenda. The criminals were never going hand in their illegal unregistered firearms that are now the problem for the police. The Christchurch tragedy would never have happened if the police had followed due process when they issued Tarrant with his firearms license ? He had firearms offences in Australia, Used Facebook friends as his referees, Did not have a permanent address, Firearms range officers flagged red herrings as well as companies he purchased ammunition off to the police and nothing was followed up by them. The Government and the NZ Police are also going to make another firearms register for all NZ Firearms when they already had them all under registration but threw the system away some years ago. I do not think firearms holders will ever trust the Labour led Coalition Government and the NZ Police again ? Some will but there will be thousands that do not.
If 1936horse [ above ] had been able to research as some have with overseas resources he would know that the tragedy was indeed a tragic red flag false. That is an entirely proved lie, and even for mentioning this, I receive attention from the Security Intelligence service. There is a reason some documents and records are forbidden to you on pain of incarceration. That reason is what is happening now, and this totalitarian Police State and will get worse. Paul Scott