New Zealand –-(Ammoland.com)- In New Zealand, the far-left government has decided a national gun registry is necessary. They have been unsuccessful in confiscating (with payment) most of the previously legally owned semi-automatic rifles in the country. There has been massive civil disobedience among New Zealand gun owners.
The party line of the leftist government is there is no right to own guns in New Zealand. They cannot be entirely sure of that, because part of the new gun control scheme is to place into law the premise that there is no legal right to arms for New Zealanders. From npr.org:
New Zealand’s government is planning to create a registry of all guns in the country and stiffen penalties on illegal gun sales and modifications. The move comes six months after a gunman killed 51 people at mosques in Christchurch.
“Owning a firearm is a privilege not a right,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday. “That means we need to do all we can to ensure that only honest, law-abiding citizens are able to obtain firearms licenses and use firearms.”
The majority of crimes that involve guns, she added, were committed by people who didn’t have a license and who used guns that were either sold illegally or stolen
A New Zealand Academic, Alexander Gillespie, made the claim there is no right to gun ownership in New Zealand From pri.org:
Are there any privacy concerns about this gun registry?
There was near-universal agreement for the buyback scheme but once we have the registry that two main political parties are splitting right down the middle, the concern is partly about privacy, and partly around it not being necessary. You must remember we don’t have a right to own firearms. We have a privilege to own firearms.
In July, the far left PM asserted that she believed New Zealanders did not think they had a right to arms:
Ardern said that growing up in a rural farming area, she always understood New Zealanders had a practical need for owning guns.
“But at the same time I don’t think that extends to this view that every New Zealand citizen has the need and right to generally arm itself,” she said. “We’re a society that I think has always drawn that very clear distinction.”
Notice the Marxist conflation between “needs” and rights. Marxist theology holds “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Needs and rights are not the same thing at all.
New Zealanders had a right to arms derived from the British Empire. They followed the English lead in firearms law.
In the British Empire, until the 1920’s, it was well understood that every Englishman had a right to arms. The right was not as strongly protected as the American Second Amendment. Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm documents the development of the right in her seminal work, To Keep and Bear Arms: The Origins of an Anglo-American Right.
After WWI, the elites in England decided to ignore that part of English heritage. The scholarship on the subject is clear.
The first real study of armed crime and firearms control was done by Colin Greenwood, Chief Inspector, West Yorkshire Constabulary, in 1972, at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. Greenwood was somewhat puzzled by the English firearms laws, because they did not appear to have any effect on crime, and very little study had gone into their creation. Firearms restrictions had been vigorously opposed before the First World War, on the grounds that they infringed on the rights of Englishmen to be armed for their own defense. The first significant English firearms law was passed in 1920. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that Greenwood wrote about the reason for English suppression of the right to arms. From Colin Greenwood, May 15, 2000. The term “Constitutionalists” below means British Constitutionalists:
Constitutionalists might argue about whether in Britain, Statute law can over-ride the basic principles of the Common Law, but in 1920 the Government of Britain was in fear of revolution and documents such as the. Cabinet Diaries reveal debates about the number of aircraft available for use against insurgents within the British Isles. In that climate, the registration of firearms (other than shotguns) was imposed for the purpose of “ensuring that all arms are available for redistribution to friends of the government”.
Extensive research by Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm buttresses what Colin Greenwood found. From Guns and Violence, the English Experience, page 162:
Second, the Firearms Act of 1920, which took away the traditional right of individuals to be armed, was not passed to reduce or prevent armed crime or gun accidents. It was passed because the government was afraid of rebellion and keen to control access to guns.
It wasn’t until 1920 that any serious firearms law existed in New Zealand.
It does not appear there was any legal challenge to the New Zealand or English laws based on the rights of Englishmen. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, was written to create a more secure right to arms than existed in England. That foresight seems prescient.
In the proposed legislation, according to the nzherald.co.nz:
- There will be a national registry of all guns.
- All gun ownership and all gun sales will be tracked.
- There will be a 5 year limit to a gun license, which will have to be renewed to continue ownership.
- A gun license will be required to purchase gun parts and accessories
- A separate license will be required for shooting clubs
- Rules for gun dealers to obtain a license will be tightened.
- A dealers license will be required for more activities than currently.
- The law accedes to the United Nations protocols on firearms and ammunition controls
- There will be more offences and higher penalties than at present
- There will be changes to allow fees to be changed, as part of regulations, to cover the cost of these new laws
One of the new crimes will be to give false information on applications to register firearms.
The max penalty is two years in jail, with up to a $20,000 fine.
This appears to come from the Canadian experience. When Canada instituted their last firearms registry, gun owners fought back by registering numerous items, such as grease guns, staple guns, and nail guns. The far left New Zealand government seems intent on making that civil disobedience a serious crime.
The Canadian law, after 16 years and a billion dollars wasted, repealed their registry.
New Zealand gun owners are fighting back against the emotional onslaught of the far left party. The National Party is refusing to support the new level of restrictions on legal gun owners.
The first reading of the new law is scheduled for September 24th. The passage is in doubt.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
During WW2, Britain begged American gun owners for firearms to protect themselves and their homeland with.
Americans, being big-hearted, sent guns, ammo and other items from their private arms collections.
After the war, the Brits DESTROYED nearly 50% of the American-owned arms rather than return them to their American owners.
New Zealand was one of the countries that was a beneficiary of those American arms. I do not know if New Zealand destroyed any American arms.
Never trust a Brit with your guns.
Trust citizens, not subjects. My Australian relatives hate me every time I say that.
Odd you should mention that. My ANZAC relatives aren’t any happier with me than my NY ones. Must be something in the water.
After WWI the British disarmed themselves and were vulnerable to the N@zis. After the war they did it again. Just how stupid are these people?
Very!
Hopefully, NZ has an election soon to remove idiots from office. I also hope they pass a law for minimum intelligence for elected officials.
The push for a registry shows that their mass shooting was an excuse and a false reason for gun control.
It was reported after the event the entire ban and buy back were just shams to institute a registry. You gotta ask: what are you going to use a registry for other than creating a map to know where to locate and confiscate guns? It certainly will not deter crime.
In all the World, ONLY the American People have a God-given Constitutional RIGHT to arms. Not even the government has a right to arms, only the American People. The American People in our REPUBLIC are the owners, the ultimate Power and Authority in this Constitutional Republic. The People created the governments and governments exist because the People allow it. The anti-American communist democrats say “Our democracy” all the time to make Americans believe ANYTHING can be done with a simple vote. The Second Amendment says “..shall not be infringed” therefore, NOT EVEN A constitutional amendment can alter the Second Amendment.… Read more »
Talmud: “Those who do good to the evil will do evil to the good.” When you have a culture that refuses to acknowledge the most fundamental tenets of human life and human dignity you can expect nothing but the worst.
Funny you should quote the Talmud since most gun control is pushed by evil communist jews.
please explain the HISTORICAL FACT that over the past century or two millions of Jewish people fled communist rule over them so they could have the liberty to live according to their long-held and very strong beliefs? Yet you claim the Jews are the reason for gun control? Barmy is a fine britishism that seems to fit perfectly. Sort of like claiming the chickens are the rones who fuonded the Wolves Union protecting the wolves’ ability to make their own decisions about what’s for supper down at the chicken coop., and enacting limits on the activities of the local raccoon… Read more »
Ok boomer. U.S. Federal Gun Control Legislation, 1968 – present 1968: The Gun Control Act of 1968 comes from Congressman Emanuel Celler’s House bill H.R.17735. It expands legislation already attempted by the non-Jewish Senator Thomas Dodd. America’s biggest and most far-reaching gun law came from a Jew. 1988: Senator Howard Metzenbaum sponsors Senate bill S.1523. It proposes legislation turning every violation of the Gun Control Act of 1968 into a RICO predicate offense, allowing a gun owner to be charged with federal racketeering offenses. 1988: Senator Howard Metzenbaum co-sponsors a bill – S.2180 – to ban, or limit/restrict, so-called “plastic… Read more »
Americans take notice of these current events in NZ. This is the vision the gun control crowd has for Americans. They will point to this as they do with Australia and say it is a great model to follow. Want to keep your guns and your freedoms vote the left out of power at any cost.
I’ll keep my gun and shoot the left out of power if it comes to that.
Only wankers bow to the UN.
1. New Zealanders do have a right to own weapons, it is an inherent human right. They lack one spelled out as law, Constitutional or otherwise.
2. I don’t know about y’all, but the Marxist, “From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs,” worries me. It seems to me that the people proclaiming this intend to add, “And we’re gonna tell you what you need.” Whether it’s guns, food, vehicles, education, whatever, I don’t trust people who think they have the right to tell me what I need.
Think about property taxes on your home. They just take enough from you that you don’t squeal (your ability) to give it to those they feel need it. Police, schools, whatever. It should ALL be voluntary contracts and if you want police protection you pay for it. Government thinks its services are so great that they have to force you at gun point to pay for them.
The government is not left-leaning. The government of NZ is a RADICALIZED LEFT COMMUNIST ORGANIZATION in control of the government. In America we would state: The government is now a TYRANNICAL government and is due for an OVERTHROW which is the DUTY of PATRIOTS of that country.
All of this is due to a LUNATIC who wrote a letter STATING he wants guns removed from the Peoples’ hands. Thus he went into two groups and supposedly killed many. Even though the video he took had no blood loss nor splatter!
Is it just me or does she resemble the “blood sucking alien” on the original Star Trek series?
Well I mean, she is a socialist so…
That is worth two gold stars!
I was thinking she is what Tre Gowdy’s sister would look like….
May this authoritarian skank get what she deserves. And may we stand vigilant against her clones here!
The people of this country voted for this far left toad so they have no one to blame but themselves. Then again they were controlled by the Queen so they are just sheeple and will go along with anything she says. We are not very far behind this so anyone who wants to protect themselves and property should take notice.
It started just as they said it would. Full confiscation not far behind. Then socialism, but that is not far behind for NZ anyway. Yall have fun y’all voted the jackasses in office
The leftists/socialists/communists/democrats all want people to fear guns so when they are in control people will fear them even more because they will have all the guns. The L/S/C/D don’t miss a chance to slaughter people now, think what kind of slaughter would be going on if they were in control.
So New Zealand has their own version of AOC. Young, stupid, and arrogant. The article correctly states that after WWI the British moved to restrict firearms from the common people. That’s true. By the time WWII started, they had to request from the United States, Canada, NZ and Australia that privately owned firearms be shipped to them as there was a shortage of guns to face off a German invasion. Many were shipped to Briton from these countries. Onc was shipped from the US, with an engraving instructing them to please ship it back to the owner once Germany was… Read more »
Can you think of anyone “young, stupid, and arrogant” who is now running for the Democrat presidential nomination?
@B46; I can see many who are “stupid and arrogant”. Maybe DECREPIT!! But young?! NO WAY!!!!
last I checked (not high on MY to do list) there were about twenty who filled the second and third stated category. And somewhere around half a dozen who pretend to fit the first.
Its only a matter of time until someone is gonna go off the deep end and go after these lunatics with a pointy stick to prove its not the tool but the person. Geez, I hope this never happens.
Don’t fight oppression and tyranny, just hope for the best?
Good thing the Founding Fathers did not think as you.
you missed his lrge font Sarc
That’s right PM make the law abiding into criminals because YOU instantly created them with a stroke of a pen. Get a clue, honest citizens don’t around shooting innocent people.
Especially criminals in government. That is who is REALLY worried about us having guns. Do some research and you will find the laws in England that started around 1920 were to disarm the citizenry because the elite feared a revolt was coming.