Recent OIA responses received from NZ Police have revealed the futility of the new multi-million dollar Arms Information System, colloquially known as the firearms registry.
Unsurprisingly, it shows that the proportion of firearms seized by police without a serial number has increased since the registry was announced, to over 65% by the end of November 2023. It also shows that 98.1% of all firearms seized either had no serial number or had never been in the police system.
This means that either there is no way of registering these firearms and/or they entered the country illegally, i.e. smuggled or illegally manufactured.
Devereux-Mack responded,
“These findings confirm what COLFO and licensed firearm owners have said since the register was announced. Police, politicians, and gun control advocates have misled the public, stating they did not have any idea how many firearms were in New Zealand, and that licensed firearm owners were the primary source of criminal guns. The fact that 95.5% of firearms seized by police have now been proven to be criminally imported is a crippling blow to arguments supporting the register and should be deeply concerning to taxpayers who are paying for a register that has a marginal impact on rising gun crime. ”
Read the full article by Victoria Obrian here: