Coalition of cronyism

Another day, another naked crony appointment from the regime. This time its gun minister and former gun lobbyist Nicole McKee appointing fellow gun loonies to the Ministerial Arms Advisory Group:

The search for two new members took place last year after four MAAG members came to the end of their three-year terms. McKee decided to reappoint two (Shayne Walker and Debbie Lamb) and cut two (Yasbek and Helene Leaf).

McKee also agreed to the Ministry of Justice seeking nominations through “agencies, ministers, Cabinet, caucus and interested groups”, according to a ministry briefing in July, released under the Official Information Act (OIA).

A week and a half later, she changed her mind when the ministry sought permission to invite nominations from groups including the police, Te Puni Kōkiri, the Māori Firearms Forum, MAAG members and the Arms Engagement Group. The ministry should only proceed if there were no nominations from her coalition colleagues, McKee’s private secretary told the ministry.

According to the OIA documents, McKee, who is an Act MP, then told two people she wanted for the group (Mike Spray and Michelle Roderick-Hall) to send their CVs to the Act Party’s chief of staff at the time, Andrew Ketels, who nominated them.

Who are her preferred nominees? Both gun nuts, one has worked directly for McKee's company Firearms Safety Specialists NZ Limited, and the other has worked indirectly for her through an organisation FSS founded. So its naked cronyism.

This isn't a statutory position, so the appointments can't be declared unlawful (unlike the regime's unlawful crony appointment to the Human Rights Commission). But its morally no different. And it makes it clear that this government is about abusing government to hand out public salaries and policy influence to its mates.

This has to change. The culture of crony appointments has to stop. That's not just a matter of de-electing this regime, because Labour is no different. Instead, all government appointments, whether statutory or ministerial, need to be taken out of the corrupt hands of politicians, and be made by an independent appointments body. The politicians have shown time and time again that they cannot be trusted to apply the law correctly when jobs are involved. Time to give the job to somebody else instead.

Police: "It's OK if you're a cop"

Imagine you want to buy some guns, but you want to hide the fact from someone. So you abuse your access privileges to obtain the details of a registered owner, then use them to fraudulently register the weapons. If you or I did this, we'd obviously be going to jail. But apparently it's OK if you're a cop:

The South Island police officer was investigated after allegations surfaced that he illegally acquired firearms and concealed the purchases by registering them under false names.

He registered firearms under the names of innocent licensed firearm owners, intending to deceive the gun sellers and Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority.

[...]

The allegations were initially investigated by the police, who concluded the officer had not committed any criminal offences.

Police accepted the officer’s explanation that he used third-party names to acquire firearms to avoid conflict with his wife.

As a result, they found no grounds to proceed with either criminal charges or disciplinary action.

The IPCA disagrees. But they're a toothless sham, who don't get to make prosecution decisions, so the cop gets away with it. And to add insult to injury, he got to keep his firearms licence, despite clearly not being a fit and proper person to enjoy such trust.

This is just the ordinary, everyday corruption of a police force which sees itself as being above the laws they enforce on us peasants. Its the corruption of a police force which behaves essentially exactly like a criminal gang. And its not acceptable. Crime is not OK if you're a cop. And if the police refuse to understand that, then we should fire them all and get some honest ones instead.

Labour chickenshits out on gun control

In the wake of the Christchurch Mosque shootings, Labour moved urgently on gun control. Semi-automatic firearms were banned immediately. But their second tranche of legislation, designed to establish a more permanent framework, got bogged down by NZ First. And now it looks like Labour has chickened out, and will let them gut it, in an effort to get it passed before the election:

Plans to set up a gun register could be delayed for up to three years as the Government aims to establish an independent entity to take over firearms licensing and administration from the police.

The move is part of a suite of changes to the Arms Legislation Bill, which saw the Labour Party give in to most of NZ First’s demands.

However, the Bill may not pass before the election, with NZ First MP Ron Mark saying the party was still "disappointed” with the outcome, which did not make exemptions for sporting shooters.

They're also moving to let farmers keep illegal semi-automatic weapons for "pest control", rather than limiting them to a tight group of restricted users. Which basicly means weapons like the ones used to murder people in Christchurch will be in the hands of every farmer in the country, so they can shoot "rabbits".

But this backdown wasn't necessary. Gun control is a hugely popular issue in urban New Zealand. Labour could have simply publicly blamed NZ First for the delay, then campaigned on passing the law without their amendments. Instead, they chose to chicken out, and grovel to a coalition partner who is actively sabotaging a core part of their agenda, when they had no real need to. Its as if having your backbone - or values - surgically removed is a requirement for party membership or something.

Shit like this is why, outside of crises, Labour has been a government of disappointment. And its why their promises mean nothing - whatever they offer, they'll just back down the moment someone disagrees with them. Voters can not and should not trust such cowards.

The police fail again

Ever since he killed 51 people in Christchurch, people have been asking how the hell the Christch mosque shooter managed to get a firearms licence. And now we know the answer: the police just didn't bother checking properly:

The March 15 terrorist was wrongly granted a firearms licence due to a string of police failures, sources have told Stuff.

The terrorist, who pleaded guilty to New Zealand's worst mass shooting in March, was not properly inspected by police vetting staff when he applied for a firearms licence in 2017.

Stuff has been told that, among other errors, police failed to interview a family member as required, instead relying on two men who met the terrorist through an internet chatroom.

The error was overlooked when police granted him the firearms licence, allowing the Australian citizen to stockpile the semi-automatic guns later used to murder 51 people.

This wasn't just a single failure - multiple police officers fucked this up. As for why, its hard to escape the conclusion that they just didn't think it was important - and certainly less important than, say, harassing activists for their political views, or kicking in people's doors over cannabis. But ensuring that those who hold firearms licences is a core preventative measure, a key way of ensuring public safety. It speaks volumes that the police took their eye of that ball, and it really makes you wonder what else they're not paying attention to while they chase protesters and harmless drug users.

We are not America

When the government banned semi-automatic weapons in response to a terrorist atrocity, gun-nuts were outraged. Mired in toxic American gun culture, they thought owning weapons whose sole purpose was killing people was some sort of "constitutional right", a necessity for "defending themselves" against the government. Now, the Court of Appeal has told them in no uncertain terms that they are wrong:

A legal challenge by firearms owners to the Government's military-style semi-automatic weapons ban claiming New Zealanders have the right to bear arms under the Treaty of Waitangi was "doomed to fail", the Court of Appeal has ruled.

[...]

In the Court of Appeal's decision, released this week, Justice David Collins said: "We accept for present purposes that it was customary in ancient times for citizens of England to bear arms ... We do not need, however, to determine if the custom of bearing arms evolved into a common law right.

"An examination of the constitutional instruments relied upon by Mr Minchin quickly exposes the fallacy of his argument that New Zealanders have a constitutional right to bear arms."

[...]

"In this country, as in almost all countries, a citizen's ability to possess, own and use firearms is regulated by legislation ... There is no constitutional right to bear arms in New Zealand let alone the arms that are prohibited by the Amendment Act."

So that's that. Meanwhile, I am wondering how people who publicly argue that firearms are for use against the government and their fellow citizens meet the "fit and proper person" test for gun ownership. That is explicitly not what firearms are for in our society, and anyone who thinks that it is is a wannabe terrorist. They should have their licences revoked and their weapons seized.

Why does National want Nazis to be able to own guns?

The Arms Legislation Bill is currently stalled before the House, thanks to NZ First's roadblock to progress. Meanwhile, the National Party, which had previously supported the bill, has decided to put up an amendment to allow Nazis and other extremists to continue to own guns:

The National Party wants to water down a proposal to restrict extremists from obtaining a firearms license.

In a Supplementary Order Paper submitted on the Government's Arms Legislation Bill, National's Police spokesperson Brett Hudson proposes that a test for violent and extremist tendencies should only be applied to people who have been "convicted of an offence under the Human Rights Act 1993 or the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 relating to violent, hateful, or extremist speech or behaviour".

This is one of the core provisions of the bill. Many members of the public were rightly appalled that someone with violent, extremist views like the Christchurch shooter was considered a "fit and proper person" to hold a firearms licence, and wanted an automatic exclusion. National's amendment would ensure that people like him still could, so they could arm themselves for the next massacre. So, they're definitely choosing a side here, and its the side of racist murderers who massacre innocent people on the basis of their race or religion. It is absolutely disgusting. But that's what happens when your key opposition tactic is to whip up fear and hate and pander to the most regressive elements of our society.

The National Party should be deeply, deeply ashamed of this position. National voters should be ashamed of it. And the message is clear: a vote for National is a vote for more massacres.

Gun nuts say they're criminals

The government gun buyback ends this week. One problem with the buyback is that, thanks to our previously lax gun laws, the police have no idea how many soon-to-be-illegal guns are actually out there. And the gun-nuts are keen to paint it as a failure by claiming that most of them haven't been turned over:

Gun rights advocates claim around two-thirds of banned firearms are still circulating and they worry the weapons could end up in the hands of criminals.

[...]

The council's national secretary Nicole McKee said the process had been very rushed and believed there could still be at least 170,000 prohibited firearms in circulation.

The police and the government "have left it really late to define a lot of those rules. From October the 25th a new list of prohibited firearms were brought in," she said adding that that was far too late and too little notice for people to respond.

"Once people realise they are going to go to jail for possession of these firearms they won't want to be holding them. So it will be really unfortunate if these firearms make their way to the black market because they're too afraid to hand them in."

They won't need to be sold on the black market, because after Friday they will already be in the hands of criminals, in that possessing a previously legal semi-automatic firearm will be a crime puishable by five years in jail. So when COLFO and other gun nut organisations say "gun nuts aren't turning over their guns", what urban New Zealand hears is "our supporters are criminals". And given what these weapons do, and the more than fair chance that has been provided to dispose of them lawfully, there will be little sympathy when they face the consequences of their pre-meditated criminality.

A sensible crackdown

The government has released its Arms Legislation Bill, containing the second tranche of changes to gun laws following the March 15 massacre. And it all looks quite sensible: a national gun register, higher penalties for illegal possession and dealing, tighter restrictions on arms dealers and shooting clubs, and a shorter licencing period. One interesting change is that all online sales will effectively need police approval, which will slow down the arms market on TradeMe.

The National party has indicated that they will oppose these changes, based on an earlier draft. Hopefully they'll change their mind on this. Otherwise, I guess they'll just be on the wrong side of history as usual.

About time

In the wake of the March 15 mass-murder, the government moved swiftly to ban semi-automatic firearms, weapons for which there is really no case for being allowed to own in New Zealand. and now, it has announced phase two of its gun control plans: a national firearms register, and tighter licensing restrictions:

The government is to establish a firearms register and make major changes to the licensing regime, in the second phase of gun law reforms.

[...]

A second piece of legislation will now set up a national register, which is expected to take about five years to capture the estimated 250,000 licence holders in New Zealand.

Gun owners will be required to sign up to the register when they get a licence, get one renewed, or when they buy or sell firearms.

If a licence holder is not on the register after five years, they will have to proactively sign up.

Licenses will need to be renewed every five years, and there will be much tighter character requirements. Dealers will face tougher restrictions too. The changes should make kiwis a lot safer, with a minimal impact on legitimate gun owners. As for the gun industry, they'll no doubt scream bloody murder about it. And by doing so, they'll make the case for even tighter regulation in future.