As I'm sure you are aware, we are currently facing some of the worst anti-gun legislation in our history.
The proposals include registration of all firearms, which will put us all in the same position as the E Cat shooters who got completely screwed over.
Seeking help for depression or other mental health issues would likely result in the police raiding your home to confiscate your firearms.
Our once "lifetime" licences would be cut to five years, doubling their cost even without the fee increases(see below).
Fees for licences and permits would be increased substantially in an attempt to put gun ownership out of reach of all but the most wealthy.
An Arms Act Advisory Group would be established, and would be stacked with anti-gun activists appointed by police.
That same committee would be involved in even more substantial changes to the Arms Act in the near future.
Shooting ranges would be burdened with onerous regulations intended to make their operation unfeasible.
That's just a few of many examples, but the rest is just as bad if not worse.
There is something we can do to stop the bill, though.
Labour and the Greens are not surprisingly committed to pushing this legislation through, and they only take firearms advise from Nash and Cahill.
However, National has stated they will oppose the bill, and ACT likely will as well.
That just leaves NZ First and Jami-Lee Ross, who is currently independent.
We need to focus all of our efforts on getting them to oppose this legislation.
If we can do that, we can stop this bill. If passed, this bill will represent an existential threat to gun ownership and shooting sports in this country.
It is always far more difficult to undo bad laws than it is to stop them from being passed in the first place.
If you ever write an email to anyone, write one to the all the NZ First MPs and Jami-Lee Ross.
If you plan to continue owning firearms, I expect you to at least spend five minutes doing that, if nothing else.
Here are the NZ First email addresses:
Darroch.Ball@parliament.govt.nz.; shane.jones@parliament.govt.nz.; jenny.marcroft@parliament.govt.nz.; ron.mark@parliament.govt.nz.; tracey.martin@parliament.govt.nz.; clayton.mitchell@parliament.govt.nz.; mark.patterson@parliament.govt.nz.; winston.peters@parliament.govt.nz.; Fletcher.Tabuteau@parliament.govt.nz.;
And here is Jami-Lee Ross' email: jami-lee.ross@parliament.govt.nz.
NZ First have made big promises to support lawful gun owners in the past.
Now it's time to hold them to those promises. The ball's in your court.
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