How widespread firearm possession is among criminals, including gangs.

Transcription

1 Submission on the Illegal Possession of Firearms in New Zealand This submission is made on behalf of the Sporting Shooters Association of New Zealand Incorporated (SSANZ), it has been approved by the Management Committee and the members have been advised. Input has also been sort from the members on stolen firearms. The aims of this association are to support, promote and lobby on behalf of all shooting disciplines and private ownership of firearms so that members may enjoy their chosen hobby or sport, without further erosion of the rights and privileges afforded to licensed firearm owners. The membership is based nationwide. SSANZ is a foundation member of the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO). SSANZ also supports the submission made by COLFO. How widespread firearm possession is among criminals, including gangs. We have no way of knowing how many firearms are in the hands of criminals, but would suggest that the New Zealand Police are the only organisation in a position to provide an estimate of this. But judging from the number of firearm seized 2005 to 2009 must run to about 5,000, based on a 10% clear up rate. We would however urge caution in accepting the figure of firearms seized last year, released by Police and much publicised by the media in March, which prompted this inquiry. We understand that prior to 2010 Police only recorded firearms seized as a result of a search warrant, since that time all firearms coming into Police possession have been recorded, and also other legislation has resulted in more firearms being captured. Examples of firearms seized without a warrant are such as Protection Orders, licence revocation, licence surrender, and seizure under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012, in some cases these firearms are returned to the owner. The following table provides a breakdown of the types of firearm seized from criminals; we regret that the data is not more up to date. We have applied to Police under the Official Information Act for a breakdown of firearm seized by type over the past five years, Annex A, but as yet no answer has been received. Types of Firearms collected as part of a search Type 2005 % 2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009 % Total % Rifle Calibre Rifle Cut Down Rifle - Airgun Imitation Rifle Shotgun MSSA Handgun-Revolver Handgun - Airgun Handgun-Pistol Imitation Handgun Other Source NZ Police It should be noted that the most common firearms seized are shotguns and rifles (Standard Licence, generally known as A Category). Firearms held on an endorsed licence, pistols, MSSAs and restricted firearms, represent only a small percentage, because these represent only a small part of the total firearms inventory in New Zealand. From media reports of armed criminal activity it would appear that the weapon of choice is the shotgun and rifle. Although the media has made much of recent seizures of modern semi automatic rifles and pistols, we have yet to be made aware of them being used by criminals and would like to postulate that these are held by criminal more to impress their rivals than for use in public. From the most recent figures released by Police (20 May 2016) on offending with firearms, Appendix 1-3, it would appear that little has changed over the past 20 years and when considered in relation to per head of population Appendix 2 offending is actually trending downwards. Which leads us to the conclusion that this inquiry was driven by a need to placate an overzealous anti firearm media campaign rather than any evidence based concerns about firearm offending. That is not to say that if the Inquiry is properly conducted and its conclusions evidence based it will provide a valuable reference point for future decision making.

2 How criminals, gangs, and those who do not have a licence come into possession of firearms. It is our contention that this falls into two categories a grey market and a black market. The grey market may be described as those firearms held by individuals without a firearm licence, but without criminal intent. This may include those whose licence has expired and not been renewed, those who live in remote rural communities or farmers who use a firearm as a tool for stock destruction or hunting and find it inconvenient to apply for a licence, firearms inherited from deceased family members, found in sheds or barns, war souvenirs and so on. While undesirable these firearms to not pose a serious threat to public safety, but may fall prey to theft through poor security. The black market is those firearms that circulate within the criminal fraternity, including gangs. This pool of firearms, we contend, judging from the number of firearm seized 2005 to 2009 and stolen 2016 must run to 1,000s. We would suggest that the bulk of the older firearms in circulation have been obtained by theft from licensed owners and others over many years. A survey of our members showed that there is no limit to the lengths that criminals will go to. Examples quoted ranged from: the most frightening to be held at knife point while the guns safe keys were demanded in a home invasion, another involved removing the gun safe from the house while the owner was on holiday, to ram raiding a gunshop. Firearms have also been obtained by deceit and fraud. Numbers stolen range from one or two to whole collections. Our members have reported mixed response from Police to these thefts, it would seem that they are treated with no more priority than any other burglary and the clear up rate is less than 10%. It is also of concern that there is no national database of stolen firearms held by Police. The following table released by Police (20 May 2016) shows an alarming upward trend in the number of firearms stolen in burglaries. Firearms Stolen in Burglaries 2010/ / / / / /15 Auckland City Bay of Plenty Canterbury Central Counties/Manukau Eastern Northland Southern Tasman Waikato Waitemata Wellington Totals A few cases have been recorded of known gang associates or family obtaining a firearms licence, legally purchasing firearms and then passing them on to gang members. While this may reflect a flaw in the vetting system of licence applicants it also demonstrates that no system is foolproof. Similarly there has been one or two examples of rogue licence holders selling firearm to unlicensed people, through greed, however it is our belief that these events are relatively rare. Smuggling is another obvious source of illegal firearms. With drug dealers attempting to illegally import high value drugs and their precursors into the country it is more than probable that they will include modern firearms in these shipments. It is our understanding that only 1 in 10 shipping containers are physically examined at the border. Finally it should not be forgotten that with a little engineering skill it is not so hard to manufacture a firearm even with hand tools, but with the advent of 3D printers complicated parts can be made quickly.

3 What changes, if any, to the current situation might further restrict the flow of firearms to criminals, gangs, and those who do not have a licence. We believe that the first and foremost there has to be a meaningful deterrent to using a firearm in crime. For example aggravated robbery with a firearm should attract an additional prison term to run consecutively to any other sentence imposed. Similarly any other criminal activity with a firearm should attract a consecutive penalty. Theft of a firearm should be an aggravated offence. Police are clearly under resourced in terms of firearms administration and recovery of stolen firearms, as shown by the current delays of several months in renewing firearm licences and processing import permits together with a poor clear up rate of firearm theft. Delays in issuing new licences are causing many owners to technically be in possession of unlicensed firearms. A national database of stolen firearms should be established so that there is a clear picture of this problem and suspect guns offered for sale may be checked and recovered firearms returned to their owners. To address the issue of grey market firearms, more effort needs to be applied to educating and making it easier for people to legalise these firearms, particularly in remote rural communities. There should also be more effort applied to following up people who do not renew their licence. Police need to be provided with more funding to target these specific areas and firearm administration should be centralised so that it is applied consistently across the country. It is evident that much of the problem associated with the criminal use and possession of firearms is associated with the trade in illegal drugs, it would therefore be sensible to review the strategies around the war on drugs and the current anti drug laws. To prevent the illegal importation of modern firearms more resources need to be provided for border surveillance to detect these illegal imports. We have no doubt that some groups and individuals will use this inquiry to call for tougher gun laws. We would like to point out that the current regime in place for the control of firearms in New Zealand works well and is held by many to be the best in the world. Countries with far tougher firearm laws than here also have far more criminal use of firearms. In summary: there is a significant pool of illegally held firearms in circulation in New Zealand which the Police are under resourced to deal with. Similarly border security does not have the resources to prevent illegal importation of drugs and modern firearms. In order to combat the criminal use and possession of firearms greater deterrence is needed together with more resources for law enforcement agencies. Changes to the current firearms control laws are not recommended, because these would only affect the already compliant licensed firearm owners and would take resources away from the real problem which is firearms in the hands of criminals.

4 Appendix 1

5 Appendix 2

6 Appendix 3 Please note: There are specific offences in legislation for assaulting a Police officer and these offences have been used to determine whether or not a Police officer was assaulted. However, apart from a small number offences where an occupation is an element of the offence the occupations of victims of crime are not identified in Police crime statistics. Therefore, if a Police officer was grievously assaulted Police might record a Grievous Assault offence instead of an Assaults Police offence due to the serious nature of the offending. In such cases the fact that the victim was a Police Officer would not be identified in Police crime statistics. While the use of a weapon can be identified as an element of the offence in most cases of assault, for some assault offences the weapon element is not specified in the offence description.