Christchurch mosque shootings: Rotorua firearm seller says tighter gun sales laws are overdue

Support for tighter gun control after the Christchurch mosque attacks has come from some surprising quarters.

Such as a firearms dealer who said he often alerted police to buyers he was concerned about, even though he had little choice but to sell weapons to them.

On Friday, a man and his guns turned New Zealand's Long White Cloud a dark shade of grey.

There are now 50 people confirmed dead and 34 people are injured in Christchurch hospital, 12 of whom are critical in intensive care.

The day after the shootings Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised changes would be made to the nations gun laws.

"While work is being done as to the chain of events that lead to both the holding of this gun licence and the possession of these weapons, I can tell you one thing right now; our gun laws will change," she said.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick told the Rotorua Daily Post she supported the Government's stance on looking into a change to the current gun laws.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick says military-style semi-automatic have no place in the hands of the general public Photo / Supplied.

"Personally, I believe there are some types of guns, like military-style semi-automatic weapons, that have no place in the hands of the general public.

"This is a very emotive issue and we will have to make sure that we take a really well thought through approach."

Councils do not have the power to restrict what someone sells or stop someone from selling products they are legally allowed to sell.

Outdoorsman Headquarters owner Bryan French, who sells firearms, agreed there needed to be stricter rules around firearms, particularly in terms of second-hand guns, as well as who was allowed a license.

He said there were "lots of ways around systems" within the law, which he said were certainly very loose.

He said they were often letting police know about people they felt seemed suspicious who were legally buying guns from the Outdoorsman Headquarters.

"Some of them we suspect are on drugs and all sorts of things. We will ring police and say 'this guy has come in and it would be worth following up'."

He said any stricter rules needed to be re-checked more regularly because of society changes, with the increasing number of people getting hooked on things like methamphetamine and gambling.

He said, in his opinion, changes brought in on July 1 last year that were designed to make it harder for people to get a license did the opposite.

He said the new rules saw people sitting tests at places such as VTNZ and AA that were similar to a driver's license test, whereas previously they were tested by certified people who knew guns well.

French, who said two of his staff members were trained testers, said they questioned the changes at the time.

"I just wonder if someone doing a Warrant of Fitness ticking boxes will have the same understanding ... We had staff going through exams and tests and making sure they were up to speed and overnight they said we don't want you anymore."

Gun Supplies, a privately owned gun store in Rotorua, sold a range of guns including military-style rifles, semi-automatics and also advertised they custom built guns.

The Rotorua Daily Post contacted owner Don Perry who refused to comment.

Gun City says they will fully cooperate with police and the government with decisions made going forward. Photo / File.

Yesterday Gun City confirmed it had sold four guns to the man accused of the Christchurch mosque massacre.

David Tipple, the nationwide gun store chain's owner, said the accused killer Brenton Tarrant had not bought a semi-automatic weapon from one of his stores.

Tipple said the guns bought by Tarrant were bought online and the police had been provided with all details of those sales.

He said Gun City would fully cooperate with police and the Government to prevent any kind of reoccurrence.

National MP Todd McClay said it was clear law changes were required and, at the very least, the "loopholes will need to be closed".

Labour's Waiariki MP Tāmati Coffey refused to comment.

Rotorua New Zealand First List MP Fletcher Tabuteau is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Disarmament and Arms Control, as part of his wider portfolio.

His press secretary told the Rotorua Daily Post he could not comment on the Government's gun law reviews until after Cabinet discussions.

Police were contacted for comment did not respond by deadline.