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Guns
Need Laws
Registration is Well Proven Along with owner licensing, firearm registration is the mainstay of gun control in almost all developed nations. Registration is a long-proven public health measure in mainland Britain, where the gun death rate per capita remains at one-fifth the rate in New Zealand. In West Australia, police say their state's gun death rate, the lowest in the nation, can be credited to 67 years of firearm registration. Victoria and South Australia both report lower rates of gun crime following registration. In light of this track record, Australia recently extended the system to all states. In Canada, thousands of applicants have been refused licences as past histories of crime and domestic violence come to light during the vetting and registration process. "We need this legislation, the sooner the better, in our efforts to fight crime... much of this controversy is based on myths and misinformation. Gun control opponents keep repeating the same message, which is that [registration] will not significantly reduce gun use among criminals. The police, however, maintain that registration of all firearms is essential. When opponents pretend that controls on rifles and shotguns aren't relevant in the fight against crime, they're simply ignoring the facts." -- Chief of Police P Sangalo. Calgary Herald. Calgary, Canada, 28 Sep 1995. Strong Public Support for Gun Control Gun control generates far more heat than similar, long-accepted public safety measures. There is no lobby group maintaining that cars don't kill, that car registration has never been a success anywhere in the world or that "law-abiding drivers" should not be inconvenienced by car controls. An MP's mailbag can give the impression that gun control is unpopular with a significant proportion of voters. Yet in Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, the polls show strong public support. Two recent TV3/CM Research polls of 1,000 eligible New Zealand voters found that: * 88% to 91% favour the universal registration of firearms * 77% want gun laws tightened * 75% to 81% support a ban on semi-automatic weapons Of the 2.7 million New Zealanders of gun licensing age, 210,000 (8%) hold a firearms licence. Among those eligible to vote, 99.8% of women and 92% of men do not have guns. If the bumper stickers are right in claiming "One Million Kiwis Fish, Shoot & Vote," then 790,000 of them are shooting without a licence. Licensing Guns is Not Expensive Firearm licensing and registration fees are to be paid only once every 10 years. In comparison with other licensing and registration schemes, gun ownership will remain one of the least expensive. A typical rifle or shotgun owner (96% of licence holders) will pay combined fees of less than $16 per annum to own any number of guns. This is less than half the cost of a single dog licence, or 7.5% of the annual cost of licensing and warranting a car. Licensing Scheme and Annual Cost ($) Car Owners (Licensing) Per Car 160.00 Car Owners (WOF) Per Car 50.00 Television Owners Per Home 110.00 Dog Owners Per Dog 40.00 Gun Licensing Unlimited 'A' category guns (rifles and shotguns) 12.38 Gun Registration Total fee for four guns (NZ average per licensed owner) 3.38 Licence renewal: $123.75 every 10 years (Minister. of Police, Jan 1999). Registration: $7.50 per gun for the life of the gun, or $40 to register any number (Council of Licensed Firearms Owners "agreement" with NZ Police, Sept 1998) Many Thousands Hide Their Guns Police say at least 70,000 gun owners have failed to comply with the 1992 owner relicensing laws. Tens of thousands more have had their licences revoked for non-compliance, with no attempt by police to locate their missing firearms. Enforcement is usually accidental, and prosecutions rare. While official figures show that 3% of car owners, 6% of television owners and 12% of dog owners flouted the relevant licensing laws, nearly one-third of gun owners have been breaking the firearm laws for years. Registration will reduce the number of guns being hidden from police. Guns in New Zealand In New Zealand, 210,000 licensed shooters own an estimated 700,000 to 1 million guns. We have 11 times as many guns per capita as the English and the Welsh, 20% more than the Australians but less than half as many as the residents of the United States. An additional 14,000 guns are imported to New Zealand in a typical year. Each day an average of seven firearm offences involving danger to life are reported to the police, while one in five homicides are committed with a firearm. In a typical year 96 New Zealanders are shot to death: nearly two a week. Of these, 75% are suicides, 12% accidents, 11% homicides, while in 2% of cases the cause is undetermined. In an average year, 13 children and youths aged 19 or younger die by gunshot and another 89 people are admitted to hospital with non-fatal wounds. Our gun death toll is 10% higher than the toll from cervical cancer. For every ten New Zealanders who die from HIV/AIDS, fifteen die by gunshot. Of all victims of gun homicide in this country during 1992-94, most (52.5%) were shot by a licensed gun owner. Almost all victims (95%) were killed by a familiar person. Half were shot by their partner, an estranged partner or a member of their own family. Of the perpetrators, less than 1 in 5 had a previous history of violent crime, while even fewer had any history of mental illness. Every civilian in possession of a firearm must possess a current firearm licence, renewable every ten years. Sporting long guns (shotguns and rifles, or 96% of firearms) are not registered, while military-style semi-automatic rifles (MSSAs), handguns (pistols & revolvers), and restricted weapons (mainly fully automatic firearms) are individually registered and more carefully monitored. As a result of these tighter controls, crime with registered firearms is rare. The Coalition for Gun Control Supporters of gun control include bank officers' unions, mayors, churches, public health, violence and suicide prevention professionals, peace, women's and victims' groups. The Coalition for Gun Control (NZ) was established to provide a focus for organisations and individuals who wish to influence this important debate without diverting resources of their own. The Coalition is a charitable trust with an office near Auckland and an experienced, salaried co-ordinator supported by volunteers. Start-up funding has been donated by the Cathy Pelly Maungarongo Trust, the Society of Friends (Quakers) and private sponsors. Recognising that appropriate firearms have an established place in sport, on the farm and in pest control, the Coalition does not seek to ban guns. Instead it promotes modest, well-proven public health measures to bring New Zealand's gun controls closer to those in similar countries. The Coalition provides evidence-based information on gun injury prevention and promotes the recommendations of Sir Thomas Thorp's Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand. Coalition for Gun Control, PO Box 503, Whangaparaoa 1463 NZ. Ph/Fax: 64 (9) 424-2302 E-mail: guncontrol@pl.net. .
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