|
Letter from Minister of Police George Hawkins | |
        
Copyright 1996-2002, Council of Licensed Firearms Owners.
|
Letter from minister of police George Hawkins Council of Licensed Firearms
Owners The following letter from minister of police George Hawkins sets out the government's current position on the registration of sporting firearms. Readers should be aware that the United Nations protocol referred to by the Minister does not require the individual registration of sporting firearms. (Anti-firearm activists will dispute this. However, the word 'registration' is not used and if registration were intended and accepted by the UN community, it would have been spelled out.) The UN protocol deals with the illicit trans-national -- not inter-person -- trafficking in firearms. It does require that firearms can be 'traced' but 'tracing' can be achieved in a number of ways without the horrendous nightmare that universal registration creates. COLFO does not object to the recording of firearm movements across our borders. However, we do object to universal registration of firearms once in New Zealand.
Office of Hon George Hawkins 17 JUN 2003 John Howat Chairman Dear Mr Howat Thank you for your letter of 14 May 2003 about firearms registration. The background to the proposed introduction of a new Arms Amendment Bill is as follows. The Arms Amendment Bill (No 2) was brought before Parliament by the previous government in 1999. The report on the Bill by the Law and Order Select Committee was tabled in Parliament on 22 February 2001. The Committee was unable to reach a recommendation as to whether the Bill should proceed. The Government has determined that the 1999 Bill will not proceed in 2003. The Committee's consideration showed that the Bill was deficient and there was a need to review the approach taken on firearm control by the Bill. I therefore intend to proceed with some form of firearm registration by means of new legislation to be introduced this year. There has also been work undertaken by the United Nations on developing common principles for combating the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts, components and ammunition in a transnational context. If New Zealand is to be a party to this type of multilateral undertaking, then there will need to be amendments to the Arms Act 1983. The licensing process in the Arms Act provides a strong basis for firearm control, by requiring that all firearm owners be licensed to own and use firearms. This will remain the cornerstone of firearm control. Other controls, such as firearm registration, have the potential to be useful adjuncts to firearm licensing. Policy decisions on, the nature of the registration process have yet to be reached, but I am of the view that the process must be cost-effective, easy to implement and encourage compliance. The Commissioner of Police has been asked to ensure that the expressed views of those with an interest in firearm ownership and use are considered in the process of developing legislation. There will also be an opportunity for the public to make submissions after the proposed legislation is introduced in Parliament and it has been referred to Select Committee for consideration. Yours sincerely [Signed] Hon George Hawkins Minister of Police ENDS. Read COLFO policies or email info@colfo.org.nz for more information. |