COLFO SENDS FORMAL COMPLANT IN RESPONSE TO GUN CONTROL NZ FOUNDER'S SHAMEFUL COMMENTS.

COLFO has lodged formal complaints with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago, and relevant Department Heads regarding comments made by Dr Hera Cook. Dr Cook's remarks in response to the NZ Herald article about the burglary of a family firearm collection dismissed the genuine trauma suffered by the victims and implied fault on their part for legally owning firearms. This rhetoric, which echoes harmful stereotypes and lacks compassion, prompted swift action from COLFO to hold her and her affiliated institutions accountable.

For your reference, we have included below the full text of the complaint letter sent to the Department Heads. Similar letters have been forwarded to the Minister of Education and the Vice-Chancellor, emphasising the broader implications for public trust in educational institutions.

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Dear Amanda D'Souza, Louise Signal, and Cristina Cleghorn,

As Co-Heads of Department, I am writing to you on behalf of the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO), New Zealand's leading advocate for the rights of responsible firearm owners, to lodge a formal complaint regarding recent comments made by Dr Hera Cook, a senior lecturer in your Department and co-founder of anti-gun lobby group Gun Control NZ. As a self-proclaimed prominent advocate for the #MeToo movement who has researched issues of sexual harassment and discrimination against women, Dr Cook's remarks in this instance are particularly egregious and demand urgent scrutiny from your institution.

In response to an NZ Herald article published on 7 October 2025, detailing the devastating burglary of a family firearm collection by methamphetamine-addicted relative Nathaniel Scott – a crime that left the victims, including young children, deeply traumatised – Dr Cook stated: "The failure is projected outwards. So the children are afraid of bad men and the family experience themselves totally as victims, according to the article. No questions about why the father needed an arsenal." This language dismisses the genuine victimhood of a law-abiding family who, as even Gun Control NZ admits, did nothing wrong. It shifts blame onto the innocent for the actions of a criminal, minimising the trauma inflicted by the their home being invaded, and implying that their legal ownership of pistols somehow invited the crime.

Such rhetoric constitutes clear victim-blaming, a practice that has no place in public discourse, let alone from an academic with Dr Cook's expertise in gender-based violence and survivor advocacy. Imagine applying her words to other crimes: suggesting a sexual assault survivor is merely "projecting failure outwards" or questioning a murder victim's family about why they "needed" to be in a vulnerable position. These comments echo the outdated and harmful trope of asking assault victims, "What were you wearing?", and betray a profound lack of compassion for the affected family, whose children now live in fear of "the bad man coming back".

Given Dr Cook's scholarly focus on combating discrimination and harassment, her failure to recognise this as victim-blaming is not only inconsistent but deeply hypocritical.

COLFO is appalled that your University of Otago staff member would employ such tactics to advance a political agenda on firearm laws, especially when the real issues – like the spread of methamphetamine use and the failure of the firearms registry go unaddressed. Notably, despite pistols being registered against their legal owners names since 1921, police have recovered only one of the 10 stolen semi-automatic handguns, highlighting systemic flaws in the very register championed by Gun Control NZ. This appears to be a deliberate distraction from those failures, including the risks of data breaches and police misuse of databases, which could soon turn the register into a criminals' shopping list of high-value targets.

In light of this, COLFO respectfully asks the following questions of the Department of Public Health:

• Does the University of Otago, and your Department in particular, condone Dr Cook's statements as representative of academic standards?

• Do you believe that victims of crime should be blamed for the actions of criminals, particularly when those victims have complied fully with the law?

• What steps will the University take to address this misuse of expertise in public commentary, including any requirement for Dr Cook to issue a public apology to the affected family?

We urge you to treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves and provide a formal response in writing within 14 days. COLFO is committed to fostering evidence-based discussions on public safety and firearm laws, but comments like these undermine trust in academic institutions and harm vulnerable New Zealanders. Your prompt attention to this complaint will demonstrate the University's dedication to ethical scholarship and victim support.

Yours sincerely,

Hugh Devereux-Mack

Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO)