AP Photo/Colleen Long

Just a few months ago, New Zealand had a fair amount of freedom when it came to guns.  Not as much as here in the United States, but a fair bit more than most other nations.

Then Christchurch happened. It was an isolated incident, something the country is far from known for, but anti-gun activists immediately hopped into action. Since one of those gun control advocates also happened to be the prime minister, AR-15s in New Zealand were doomed.

One might think that would be enough. After all, the country banned the weapon used in the senseless slaughter of the innocent, right?

However, when it comes to anti-gunners, it’s never enough.

A new lobby group is pushing for a national register of all guns in New Zealand, strengthening the ban on semi-automatic weapons, and requiring gun owners to renew their registration every three years.

Gun Control NZ launched today and is co-founded by volunteers Hera Cook, an Otago University public health researcher, Nik Green, who started a petition to ban semi-automatic weapons, and Philippa Yasbek, who has experience with regulation and legislation.

The group’s launch follows the Government’s first stage of gun law reform, which was a response to the Christchurch terror attack that took 51 lives.

Now, the government there just passed the ban. There hasn’t even been time to see if it worked or not. Granted, it’s not like AR-15s were used in a lot of crimes before Christchurch, but still.

What this is about is very simple. Anti-gunners got a bit of gun control, so they figured they’d have a shot at all kinds of additional gun control. This is how they work. They use whatever tragedy possible to justify a push to regulate firearms.

However, anti-gunners tend to forget that the only people who will comply with a registration scheme are the people who don’t require the control in the first place. Law-abiding citizens aren’t a problem in New Zealand or anywhere else. They follow the rules laid out. They don’t commit murder, rob, or otherwise harm others.

Criminals, on the other hand, ignore all of those laws. They’ll ignore a registration scheme as well.

This provides yet another glimpse into the mind of the anti-gun activist. No matter what they ask for, it’s important to remember that it’s never the endgame. They’re never finished with that one bit of gun control. It’s only a start. They’ll either use it to justify the next piece of legislation or claim that it doesn’t go far enough, all despite no evidence that more is needed.

New Zealand wasn’t a violent country before. One incident didn’t turn it into a violent country either. The last thing it needed was a ban on semi-automatic weapons. It won’t stop the anti-gun activists from pushing further and nothing will except the refusal to take a single step.

Here in the United States, anti-gunners continue to push and push. They lash out at Second Amendment supporters’ refusal to budge even an inch, but we look at what’s transpiring in New Zealand and recognize the same would happen here. After all, it’s happened over and over again in our history. No bit of gun control is ever enough. It’s just a prelude for the next proposal.

So, we stopped. With luck, New Zealand’s pro-gun folks will do the same.