Police Efforts Like This Will Undermine NZ's Gun Control Attempt

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File

Following the horrific events in Christchurch, New Zealand, the country has lashed out at gun owners and changed its laws so that massive numbers of gun owners have to turn over their guns or become criminals. It’s an effort that’s been applauded in this country by anti-gun activists and politicians.

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However, it seems that all the gun laws in the world won’t do much if the police in New Zealand can’t stop guns in their custody from being stolen.

New Zealand police have been left red-faced after nearly a dozen guns were stolen from one of their stations as authorities encourage firearms owners to hand in their weapons as part of tighter new laws.

The country this month passed a ban on high-powered semi-automatic rifles and gave owners until September to hand in their weapons.

But police on Friday revealed 11 guns had been burgled from one of their stations in the North Island town of Palmerston North on Anzac Day.

“These were not police firearms, but were a range of weapons being held as exhibits or handed in for destruction,” Inspector Sarah Stewart said, adding the matter was being treated as a top priority.

At least one of the guns was a newly banned firearm.

Whoops.

It looks like that one’s back out on the streets.

Police do have a suspect and are on the hunt for him now, but the whole situation strikes me as hilarious. Why? Because it’s proof that criminals will do anything they can to get their hands on firearms. That includes robbing the police.

How are the police supposed to combat gun crimes if the criminals are ripping them off to get the guns?

If the nation can’t even get a lid on drugs–and no country seems to be able to do so–how can they prevent the flow of guns into it?

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One would think this would be a wakeup call for New Zealand, but it won’t be. The country’s anti-gun zealots are so full of self-righteousness that the homicide rate could increase exponentially year after year for the next 30 years and it’d still be singing gun control’s praises. New Zealand doesn’t understand that criminals are criminals. They’ll do whatever is required to get guns.

What happened in Christchurch was a terrorist attack.

Yet has France, for example, stopped terrorists from using guns, despite the nation’s long history of gun control? No. France can try, but it’s a lost cause, and so too it will be in New Zealand.

Gun control won’t work.

But that’s especially true if the police can’t hold onto firearms in their custody. Especially now that people are starting to wonder how easy it will be to steal guns off from police stations. I expect we’ll see a lot more people attempt this sort of crime. After all, guns are now big business thanks to gun control in New Zealand.

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