NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Editorial: Unregistered guns invite a tragedy

NZ Herald
11 Nov, 2012 04:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

According to the police's 2011 National Strategic Assessment paper, there is a large pool of illegally held firearms in the country. Photo / Supplied

According to the police's 2011 National Strategic Assessment paper, there is a large pool of illegally held firearms in the country. Photo / Supplied

Opinion
Police can only guess the number of firearms - legal and illegal - in the country.

This country has been spared a criminal fraternity that wields firearms as a matter of course. Indeed, according to police statistics, guns are involved in just 1 per cent of violent crime. Yet any comfort to be derived from this statistic must be tempered by data released recently to the Herald under the Official Information Act. This showed 325 illegal firearms were seized in police raids in the year to June. While that is the lowest haul in the past five years, it is still an alarming number and, along with other aspects of the present firearms regime, a cause for continuing concern.

Most of the guns seized by the police were stolen in residential burglaries or from collectors by organised criminals. According to the police's 2011 National Strategic Assessment paper, there is a large pool of illegally held firearms in the country, and guns of almost any type can be obtained relatively easily from within the ranks of criminals. The police, however, can only guess at the extent of the problem. So poor is firearm record-keeping that the number of guns reported stolen in each police district to fuel this black market is not even collated centrally.

In large measure, this shortcoming has its origin in the 1982 decision to abandon the registration of every firearm. Instead, owners were licensed. Before then, the number of guns was relatively tightly controlled. Subsequently, even licensed owners have been able to accumulate any number of firearms. The upshot is that the police have no accurate idea of how many guns - legal or illegal - there are in the country.

An incident three years ago illustrated the dangers of this situation. Jan Molenaar, who shot a senior constable in Napier, had an arsenal of 18 guns, including military-style semi-automatic weapons. He also did not possess a firearms licence, having not responded to calls to renew his licence or surrender his guns in 2002, following the scrapping in 1992 of the lifetime licence for a 10-year licence. The police officers who went to apprehend him had no idea he had accumulated so many arms. That, indeed, is the case for officers executing any search warrant or tackling any domestic dispute. They are in the dark about how many guns may be in a house.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This dangerous situation should have been remedied following Sir Thomas Thorp's 1997 review of firearms control. He recommended that all firearms should be registered, not just handguns, machine guns, automatics and military-style semi-automatics. He also sought an independent firearms agency, and the reduction of the 10-year licence to three years. These proposals were incorporated in legislation, only for Parliament to buckle in the face of opposition from the gun lobby. The outcome is that New Zealand and the United States are virtually alone among Western nations in not requiring the registration of firearms.

Registration would not be a cure-all. Criminals intent on obtaining guns will always find a means. But fewer guns would fall into criminal hands, guns used in crime could be more easily traced, and fewer arsenals would be amassed by people with no legitimate reason for them.

Probably not too much should be read into the drop in firearms seized by the police over the past year. Rather than a problem on the wane, the statistic may just as easily reflect a lack of police resourcing or a shift of focus. Either way, the number of seized firearms remains a reason for apprehension. Parliament needs to act before the laxity of current regulations is underlined again by a tragedy involving unlicensed guns.

Discover more

Opinion

Editorial: Original plan for schools should stand

08 Nov 04:30 PM
Opinion

Editorial: Iconic brand did not need to be protected

09 Nov 04:29 PM
Opinion

Editorial: King's passion enriched NZ

09 Nov 04:30 PM
New Zealand|crime

White collar penalties 'favour offenders'

11 Nov 04:30 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
New ZealandUpdated

Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

03 Jul 10:43 PM
Premium
Business|economy

18,800 people booked for NZICC in 2026; anaesthetists, ophthalmologists the latest

03 Jul 10:39 PM
Premium
Politics

Labour offers National a lifeline for costings unit

03 Jul 10:33 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

Tradie's remarkable revival of long-lost NZ clothing brand from his backyard shed

03 Jul 10:43 PM

Nikolai Solakof had never sewn before reviving Oscar Eide from his shed.

Premium
18,800 people booked for NZICC in 2026; anaesthetists, ophthalmologists the latest

18,800 people booked for NZICC in 2026; anaesthetists, ophthalmologists the latest

03 Jul 10:39 PM
Premium
Labour offers National a lifeline for costings unit

Labour offers National a lifeline for costings unit

03 Jul 10:33 PM
'Game-changer': $56.4m irrigation funding unveiled

'Game-changer': $56.4m irrigation funding unveiled

03 Jul 10:31 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP