As a second round of gun confiscations begins in New Zealand; this time targeting pump-action rifles, pistol-caliber carbines, and AR-style handguns, the country’s Police Association is warning of another threat that they say must be addressed with new legislation: starter pistols.

According to law enforcement, large numbers of criminals are legally purchasing starter pistols and illegally modifying them to fire real ammunition instead of blanks.

The association’s president Chris Cahill says it’s a growing issue.

“That’s the problem we are seeing out on the street now, criminals are buying these. You need no license to buy these, there’s no limit to how many you can buy,” he says.

Many are legally buying them – then illegally modifying them.

“The problem is criminals have learnt to convert them into real pistols. In other words, firearms that fire projectiles, and it’s not what they were intended for,” Cahill says.

“We’re finding them regularly out there during search warrants or in firearms incidents where criminals are arrested with firearms.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m simply gobsmacked that criminals aren’t obeying the law and are choosing to illicitly arm themselves.

As a result of the improvisational skills of New Zealand’s criminals, the New Zealand Police Association president says he’d like to see a complete ban on the sales of starter pistols.

“People that use pistols legitimately for sporting events, they can fire blanks so they don’t need these weapons. The groups like athletics and swim clubs don’t need them anymore – so why are they in New Zealand? I don’t think we need them at all,” Cahill says.

The Police Association calling for a change in legislation on starter pistols, because they say criminals already have a head start.

If New Zealand is going to start banning everything that can be turned into a gun, they’re going to have to get rid of more than starter pistols. Zip guns can be made from blocks of wood and simple metal tubing, so police should probably shut down all hardware stores in the country just to be on the safe side. In addition, all 3D printers are going to have to be outlawed, along with CNC machines, in order to help prevent criminals from illicitly manufacturing their own firearms.

I don’t know when and if the Police Association will actually call for the closure of every hardware store and sporting good shop, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see an attempt to ban all firearms possession (with a few very limited exceptions) within the next three years in New Zealand. After all, there is no right to own a firearm under the country’s laws, and gun ownership is already being confined and restricted to the narrowest of circumstances.

As each new round of gun control inevitably fails to stop violent criminals from using illicitly acquired guns in crimes, the anti-gun politicians in charge respond by demanding even more restrictions. Eventually they’re going to get to the point where there’s nothing left to do but ban all gun possession by civilians, though that won’t stop criminals either. You can’t successfully fight violent crime by making it impossible for people to legally own firearms, but if any country’s likely to take that step in the near future, it’s New Zealand.

Editor’s Note: Want to support Bearing Arms so we can tell the truth about Joe Biden and the Left’s radical gun control agenda? Join Bearing Arms VIP. Use the promo code GUNRIGHTS to get 25% off your membership.