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National | New Zealand Police

Police shooting proof gun laws not working – new ACT MP

Newly elected ACT MP and gun law reform lobbyist Nicole McKee says New Zealand’s gun laws are not working

“The current law is punishing law-abiding gun carriers and not criminals and that is where we need to make a change.”

Concerns are growing over gun safety following an attack on State Highway 11 near the Puketona Junction with State Highway 10 in Northland where a police officer was stopped and approached by two armed men.

Former MP Shane Jones lives near the area and says it's an absolute mess.

“It was shocking to hear. It was at Puketona where this happened. People shouldn’t be afraid to say who and where these people are.”

Northland National MP and former police officer Matt King says police need to have more support.

Two-officer patrols

“I know the officer involved and she was working alone. That’s crazy,” King says.

McKee argues criminal use of firearms is putting frontline police in danger “and in order to stop that we need to go after the criminals.”

King said the police shouldn’t have single officer patrols at night. “There should be two especially at high-risk times.”

McKee say some fair firearms reform is needed to keep the police safe but criminals are targeted. She says her party’s policy addresses that.

New Zealand’s gun laws were changed after the massacre in Christchurch, which saw the banning of most semi-automatic firearms, some pump action shotguns, some tubular magazine firearms and certain large-capacity magazines. An amnesty and buyback scheme ran until December 20, 2019

Back in June two officers were shot in Massey, one fatally and one critically injured. Two people have been charged with offences related to that event.

Jones says the police are still on the search for the pai “but when you hear of such horrible things it reverberates in our homes.”

He says the weapons argument goes back to an issue with P and communities need the support to bring it to a stop.

He implores locals to talk to the police for the safety of the community.