“The Police Minister and the Police Commissioner are at odds over whether the Government’s new gun legislation allows
Police to strip firearms licences from gang members,” says ACT Firearms Law Reform spokesperson Nicole McKee.
“Last Thursday in Parliament, the Justice Minister, answering on behalf of the Police Minister said:
“But Police Commissioner Andrew Coster revealed this morning to the Justice Committee that, while Police intended to
test the new law, it’s unlikely that gang membership alone will allow them to strip someone of a firearms licence:
‘It appears unlikely that the effect of that provision will be to enable us to remove a firearms license from someone
solely on the ground of gang membership or association.’
“This contradiction reminds me of when a Police officer shot himself in the buttock last year.
“The Police Commissioner, far from being a ‘wokester’, has blown the arse out of the Government with a display of
straight up honesty about their failed legislation.
“The gangs always said they weren’t subject to the law and, in this case, they were right.
“If the Government’s much-vaunted ‘fit and proper’ test has failed to prevent members of violent organised criminal
gangs from holding a firearms license, that would be a massive failure.
“New Zealanders will be deeply concerned that, on such a serious issue, the Minister and the Commissioner are not on the
same page.”