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8,800 Guns Seized in NSW in 10 Months as Australia Battles Crime
23 May 2013
Nine MSN (Australia)
Machine guns and military rifles were among 8,800 firearms seized in NSW over the past 10 months.
Police revealed the figure as they pleaded for more help taking illicit guns off the streets.
Senior officers in Sydney, scene of four gun crimes this week, launched the trans-Tasman Operation Unification on Thursday - a two-week initiative encouraging people to report illegal firearms.
They did so alongside David and Cathy Knight, whose truckie dad Bob was killed in... (GunPolicy.org)
Unlicensed NZ Soldier in Court After Being Found Drunk with Loaded Gun
17 May 2013
Stuff (New Zealand)
A soldier has admitted having a loaded rifle when he was drunk at home the day after his discharge from the army.
Christchurch District Court Judge Alistair Garland said it was "unforgivable" that 38-year-old Samuel George Ottley had the rifle lying on his bed underneath a sleeping bag, with bullets in the magazine.
"You are army-trained. You should know better than to have a firearm with any bullets in it at all in your home," the judge said when Ottley pleaded... (GunPolicy.org)
Survey Shows Half NZ Region's Gun Users Unlicensed, Training Offered
23 April 2013
Radio New Zealand
More than 1000 people have had a firearms safety lecture and test - as part of a programme mostly designed for Maori.
The two-year-old scheme called Whakatupato is run by the Mountain Safety Council in rural areas.
It was set up after a 2005 survey showed about half of the gun users in Te Urewera didn't have a firearms licence, which means they weren't being told about the potential dangers.
Mountain Safety Council manager Tracy Wakeford said elders are helping them... (GunPolicy.org)
Fijian in Court on Charges of Neglecting Gun Safety After Death
30 January 2013
Fiji Times
Pilot Mohammed Rizwan Khan has been refused bail by the Lautoka Magistrates Court for offences relating to the death of six-year old Mohammed Khubayb Salman Khan last weekend.
Appearing before Magistrate Sujeewa Nishanka, Mr Khan was charged with one count of failure to maintain arms in a safe and secure custody and one count of manslaughter by negligence or breach of duty.
While ruling on Mr Khan's bail application by his lawyer Vishal Pillay, Magistrate Nishanka... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Teen Dies in Airgun Shooting, Lobby Says No Law Change Needed
14 January 2013
Radio New Zealand
A post-mortem has revealed an 18-year-old killed in an airgun accident in Auckland was shot through the heart.
Shaun Townsley was fatally shot while he and a group of friends were drinking and firing air rifles and air pistols at cans at his home in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa on Saturday evening.
Police say the shooting appeared to be accidental but an investigation is looking at whether charges relating to careless or dangerous use of a firearm should be... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Finland,Colombia,Mexico,Western Europe,Australia,Yemen,Canada,New Zealand,United States
On Guns and Gun Law, America an Outlier Among Developed Nations
20 December 2012
Huffington Post (USA)
How freely do guns flow in the United States compared with the world's other industrialized countries?
According to GunPolicy.org, run by Philip Alpers, a firearms analyst at The University of Sydney, the United States is unusual with what Alpers described as the "two pillars" of gun control: licensing gun owners and registering weapons.
"You are basically the only country in the developed world that doesn't license gun owners across the board and you are almost alone... (GunPolicy.org)
Expert Says NZ Gun Laws Not Tight Enough, Registry Needed
18 December 2012
3 News (New Zealand)
Despite New Zealand's reputation for tight gun regulation, one anti-gun lobbyist says we are still leaving ourselves exposed.
Professor Kevin Clements, director of the National Centre of Peace and Conflict Studies at Otago University, says current laws around gun registration are loose and leave room for abuse.
"The registered arms owners [might have] a large amount of weapons but we don't know how many, where they are, what sort they are and whether they might fall... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Police Support 'More Distinctive' Fake Guns After Toy Causes Seige
22 November 2012
Stuff (New Zealand)
One can kill while the other is a toy, but police are finding it increasingly difficult to tell the difference as fake firearms become more realistic.
Armed police raided a house in the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville on Tuesday after a member of the public reported seeing a gun being pointed through a window.
It turned out the gun was a toy given as a 10th birthday present. A man, 21, has been charged with possession of an imitation firearm.
Last year, film-makers... (GunPolicy.org)
Lack of Gun Registration Puts Police at Risk in New Zealand
12 November 2012
Herald (New Zealand), Editorial
Police can only guess the number of firearms - legal and illegal - in the country.
This country has been spared a criminal fraternity that wields firearms as a matter of course. Indeed, according to police statistics, guns are involved in just 1 per cent of violent crime. Yet any comfort to be derived from this statistic must be tempered by data released recently to the Herald under the Official Information Act. This showed 325 illegal firearms were seized in police... (GunPolicy.org)
Illegal Gun Seizures Rising in NZ But Police Lack Data on Owners, Thefts
6 November 2012
New Zealand Herald
Hundreds of illegal firearms are being seized each year in police raids - but there is no record of how many guns are stolen to fuel the black market.
New figures show 325 firearms were seized in the financial year to June, the lowest number in the past five years and down from a peak of 1146 the previous year.
Most of the illegal firearms are stolen in residential burglaries or from collectors by organised criminal groups, police documents released under the Official... (GunPolicy.org)
8-Year-Old Samoan Boy Accidentally Shoots, Kills 5-Year-Old Cousin
29 October 2012
Stuff (New Zealand)
The Kiwi father of a 5-year-old boy shot dead by his 8-year-old cousin has flown to Samoa to be with the child's body.
James May was visiting the village of Samamea, 44km from the capital Apia, with his family when he, his cousin and uncle went into the woods to shoot pigeons and collect coconuts on Wednesday, Samoa's Weekend Observer reported.
James was shot in the face and killed.
The shooting happened when the uncle reportedly put the loaded gun down briefly while... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Scotland,England & Wales,New Zealand,United Kingdom
British Police Reject Idea of More Guns Despite Deaths
19 September 2012
BBC News, Opinion
The deaths of two female police constables have brought into focus the unarmed status of most British police. Why does Britain hold firm against issuing guns to officers on the beat?
It's the single most obvious feature that sets the British bobby apart from their counterparts overseas.
Tourists and visitors regularly express surprise at the absence of firearms from the waists of officers patrolling the streets.
But to most inhabitants of the UK - with the notable... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Police Admit Losing Three Handguns, Taser
15 September 2012
TVNZ (New Zealand)
Three police-issued Glock pistols, gun parts and a Taser have been lost or stolen - and police have no idea where any of them might be.
They have also damaged a further 33 weapons in the past five years, including two rifles that were run over, information obtained by The Dominion Post has revealed.
Superintendent Barry Taylor said that, though any weapon going missing was "not acceptable", the number lost was small.
Two of the Glocks "went missing while in transit... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Police Say Illegal Imported Guns Intended for Crime
8 September 2012
Stuff (New Zealand)
Thousands of illegal and restricted weapons, including machine guns, swords and "stun gun knuckle dusters", are being seized at the New Zealand border every year.
Figures given to The Dominion Post show 13,801 items classified as weapons were intercepted by the New Zealand Customs Service between January 2010 and July 2012 - an average of more than 14 a day.
The detailed breakdown of items, discovered at airports, seaports, mail centres and during raids, revealed... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Parents Of Shot Teen Want Gun Law Change, Police Say No Need
13 August 2012
Dominion Post (Wellington)
Aaron Grimwood should have turned 21 tomorrow.
But instead of celebrating his birthday his parents will be campaigning for tighter gun laws, after he was shot dead by a close friend.
"We definitely don't want any other families to go through hell," his mother Ann-Maree Grimwood said.
In September 2010, after an inquest into Mr Grimwood's death, Wellington coroner Ian Smith recommended Parliament consider a review of the law with a view to establishing a range of... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Firearms Instructor On Trial After Fatal Deer Hunt
27 July 2012
3 News (New Zealand)
A former president of the Wellington Deerstalkers' Association has pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of fellow hunter Cameron McDonald.
Christopher Dummer says he thought he was shooting at the red shoulder of a deer, when in fact he shot at the orange beanie Mr McDonald was wearing for safety.
As a mountain safety firearms instructor Dummer was approved by police to train and test new gun licence applicants.
Today he pleaded guilty to the careless use of a... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Boy's Gun Death Preventable, Better Safety Needed - Police
12 July 2012
3 News (New Zealand)
The 10-year-old boy shot dead on Tuesday in East Cape has been named as Patrick Brass.
Police say his death could have been prevented if the firearm involved had been locked away.
The boy died on Tuesday following an incident involving a firearm in Waikura Valley and it is believed he was with two teenagers.
The local school principal says the boy comes from a local shearing family and was at Te Kumi station.
The police are investigating to find out what... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Clarifies Definition of Military-Style Semi-automatic Weapons
23 May 2012
Office of the Minister of Police (New Zealand), Media release
Police Minister Anne Tolley says a Bill that clarifies the definition of military style semi-automatic firearms (MSSAs), and places controls on the importation of airguns that look like real pistols, MSSAs or restricted weapons has passed its second reading in Parliament.
The Arms (Military Style Semi-Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill requires importers of such airguns to have a special permit from Police.
"Replica firearms can easily be mistaken... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Gun Dealer Offers Machine Guns, Anti-aircraft Gun for Sale
9 December 2011
New Zealand Herald / APNZ
A Christchurch arms dealer is trading high-calibre weapons more associated with freedom fighters in Libya than librarians in Linwood.
David Tipple of Gun City is selling for a bargain price of $1499 anti-aircraft cannons designed to shoot jet-fighters out of the sky.
Also available are German machineguns from the Battle of Stalingrad, MP5 9mm sub-machineguns starting from $14,999, as well as "very rare" 9mm UZI machineguns - down from $12,000 - Russian AK47s, .303... (GunPolicy.org)
'Don't Put Your Loaded Firearm in Your Pocket', Say New Zealand Police
17 October 2011
New Zealand Herald / APNZ
A Waikato man who shot himself with a pistol down his pants was lucky he didn't hit an artery and die, police say.
The 35-year-old shot himself while trying to hide a gun from police while returning from possum-hunting with his brother on Friday night.
The man did not have a licence for the .22 pistol he had in his pants and was attempting to get rid of it before police saw it, Sergeant Jim Corbett of Thames Strategic Traffic Unit said today.
Officers were called to... (GunPolicy.org)
