Gun registry backed by majority: survey

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Figures released this week by Gun Control NZ show that a large and broad-based majority of New Zealanders, 71 percent in total, support the establishment of a gun registry.

Introduced in June this year, the registry has been strongly criticised by some gun owners. The Act Party, which polls show could be in government with National after October’s election, is promising to repeal most of the registry except for pistols and restricted weapons.

But the survey of 1081 adult New Zealanders by Horizon Research found that only 14 percent were opposed to a gun registry.

Interestingly there was majority support from voters across all the main parties, including 53 percent of those intending to vote Act, and almost two-thirds of the people who took part believed that a political party supporting the registry had stronger law and order policies.

Co-founder of Gun Control NZ Nik Green argues that registries discourage disreputable firearms owners from selling guns to organised crime groups, as they know the guns can be traced back to them.

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Under the registry, gun owners must now log their firearms online or by phone, updating any changes of ownership when they happen . . . but no need to rush, the country’s 240,000 licensed gun owners have five years to register their firearms.

There has been a marked increase in the use of firearms in criminal activity since 2015, say police. The sad reality is that many of the firearms seized in recent police operations could be traced back to legal purchases.

Gun Control NZ is calling on all political parties to commit to fully implementing the registry over the next two years.

But Council of Licensed Firearms Owners spokesman Hugh Devereux-Mack says it does not make any sense to bring in further regulation on licensed owners, who are sick and tired of being scapegoated for police failures to address the increase in gun violence.

Firearms owners have also said the register could provide a shopping list of weapons and where to find them  for criminals, adding that the theft of firearms licensing documents from the former Auckland Police Station in 2022 set an ominous precedent.

However, police say the $10 million online portal contains similar security measures to online banking and government departments.

It is four long years since the moves to establish a gun registry were started in response to the Christchurch mosque terror attack.

The gun control survey by Horizon last month strongly suggests a majority of New Zealanders feel that has been too long.