Thread: Your Last Chance to Save Our Pistol Grips

Originally Posted by Digit

Labour Party Responds to saveourpistolgrips.com

13 August 2013

Thank you for your emails regarding the Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Act 2012.

Your concerns regarding the consequences of this Act, particularly in regards to sections 4 and 11 were thoroughly debated during the Select Committee stage.

Given the weight of the concerns around a number of issues raised, primarily by firearms organisations and members of the public, Labour proposed an initiative to assist the consultation process.

Labour members of the select committee suggested that an independent reference group be formed that would provide contestable advice to the Minister and would have been an avenue for parties to offer opinion and expert advice in the event of an Order in Council being introduced.

Government members on the Law and Order Select Committee that presided over this Act voted down our proposal. This was unfortunate as this would have given individual or groups that share your concerns an avenue to oppose such changes.

We continue to feel it was unfortunate that the government did not support our move in select committee to allow firearms organisations and members of the public to have their say.
I would like to thank you for expressing your concerns to me.

Yours Sincerely,

Kris Faafoi
Member of Parliament for Mana
Labour Spokesperson for Police | Corrections | Associate Spokesperson for Health

Dear Kris

Thank-you for explaining the problem to us. However we are already well familiar with the problem; it is a solution rather than a problem that we are looking to our political representatives to provide.

If we need a history lesson on how the National Party f*cked us all over... we can ask.

Kind Regards
Civilian Gun owners

The latest NZ Guns and Hunting magazine has the COLFO report. Save Our Pistol Grips gets the following mention from Michael Dowling as part of his report.

It is worth noting that some members have been lobbying Members of Parliament and the Council in regard to the Arms Amendment Act - at time of writing the number is over 2000. This is commendable and demonstrates to Parliament that firearm owners are active and have a voice. However it will not stop the arms amendment Act progressing as it has already been accepted.

There is no link in his report where readers can continue to lobby online. It would have been commendable on COLFO's part to help grow the show of dissent towards politicians ignorance towards firearm owners. He does however provide links to a couple of american reports that he also states that he hasnt read in full yet.

My love for COLFO grows

Originally Posted by Digit

The latest NZ Guns and Hunting magazine has the COLFO report. Save Our Pistol Grips gets the following mention from Michael Dowling as part of his report.

It is worth noting that some members have been lobbying Members of Parliament and the Council in regard to the Arms Amendment Act - at time of writing the number is over 2000. This is commendable and demonstrates to Parliament that firearm owners are active and have a voice. However it will not stop the arms amendment Act progressing as it has already been accepted.

There is no link in his report where readers can continue to lobby online. It would have been commendable on COLFO's part to help grow the show of dissent towards politicians ignorance towards firearm owners. He does however provide links to a couple of american reports that he also states that he hasnt read in full yet.

My love for COLFO grows

Stunning effort there by COLFO.

New Press Release From NZ First.

Time To Recognise Pistol Grips As Safety Feature

With the Arms (Military Style Semi-Automatic Firearms and Import Controls) Amendment Bill set to become law next month, New Zealand First is calling for pistol grips on sporting rifles and shotguns to be officially recognised as safety features, and for the definition of ‘Military-Style Semi-Automatic’ to be abandoned entirely.

Police spokesperson Richard Prosser said that the very use of the term ‘Military Style Semi-automatic’ was nonsense.

“The term was invented to create a category of sporting firearms which somebody at Police Headquarters thought were cosmetically similar to real military combat weapons.

“It doesn’t exist anywhere in the world outside of New Zealand law, and creates the impression that semi-automatic sporting long guns have some relevance to military use and function, which they do not.”

“Actual military assault rifles have a fully automatic, or machine-gun, function, which sporting semi-automatics do not. The pistol grip was originally a safety feature invented for sporting rifles, which was taken up by military designers because it enables a rifle to be handled more accurately and therefore more safely.

“The cosmetic similarity between some sporting rifles and some military weapons is irrelevant in terms of functionality, and any potential for the criminal misuse of semi-automatics was negated by restrictions on magazine capacity more than 20 years ago.

“The current law has worked well for more than two decades, and the changes which the new law will bring in will create a black market and a danger to the public which does not currently exist, as thousands of law-abiding firearms owners find themselves in possession of firearms for which they no longer hold the appropriate licence.

“People will be turned into criminals by regulation, without recourse to protest as Parliament goes into recess for the summer.

We’re asking the Minister to put the implementation of this ill-advised Bill on hold until the issue can be re-examined in the New Year,” said Mr Prosser.

Good on Richard. Very well considered.

Agreed, glad that this hasn't gone away in parliament.

I can't see the logic in what the government is trying to achieve, I don't want an E cat licence or own an MSSA, my AR15 isn't a military rifle how is it any more dangerous than a Remington 7615 sporting a 100 round drum magazine, just because it has a pistol grip?

Originally Posted by Nakiboy

I can't see the logic in what the government is trying to achieve, I don't want an E cat licence or own an MSSA, my AR15 isn't a military rifle how is it any more dangerous than a Remington 7615 sporting a 100 round drum magazine, just because it has a pistol grip?

Exactly, and welcome to the forum Nakiboy

It's the stupidest fucking thing

Originally Posted by Nakiboy

I can't see the logic in what the government is trying to achieve, I don't want an E cat licence or own an MSSA, my AR15 isn't a military rifle how is it any more dangerous than a Remington 7615 sporting a 100 round drum magazine, just because it has a pistol grip?

Welcome to the forum Nakiboy. You are going to fit right in here.

End of year report and a summary for the save our pistol grips campaign. Also intended direction for 2014.
www.facebook.com/saveourpistolgrips

Just for those without fb

END OF YEAR REPORT

As most of you know on Dec 11th the amendment came in by force due to being 12 months from the anniversary date. Anyone with a pistol grip semi-auto is now required to either obtain an endorsement or seek an A category approved solution.

While this may seem a loss to those that govern our recreational pursuits, we have had a major win. That is the realisation from many that the Semi Auto is now a legitimate, widely accepted sporting tool. This was not the case prior to 2009 when Richard Lincoln held the Police to account and wedged his foot in the door allowing the flood of Semi Autos into the country. Stores such as Gun City, Serious Shooters and nzar15.com took full advantage of this situation to help make Pistol Grip Semi Autos common place on the market. To a large degree this has aided us as firearm owners to make the Police realise that they were fighting a losing battle. I believe this affected the outcome of how the amendment was implemented. We could have been a lot worse off. Your voice went a long way to help enforce the current legal position.

Rod and Rifle magazine, a typically "traditional" NZ hunting magazine, based their last editorial on black guns. They stated "The word from the 2013 Shot Show was 'black guns are where its going for hunting rifles'. When a typically wood and blued steel crowd realise and announce that black rifles are the future then you know we have all achieved something. I also note in their current edition there is a further article on semi autos. We can feel comfortable that these guns are here to stay.

The response to the Save our Pistol Grips campaign from politicians and COLFO was also a huge achievement. Well over 2000 of you sent emails making your voice heard. Some like the National Party simply ignored us. United Future's Peter Dunne pledged his support and promised to talk to Anne Tolley. We have no proof that any discussion was had and we know for a fact the United Future voted in favour of this amendment. United future may have changed their position since, time will tell, but to date there has been no media release. Labour responded that they asked for a joint reference group to be set up. Yet, like United Future they voted against this countries gun owners. The one shining light amongst the politicians was NZ First's Richard Prosser. He made two widely published media releases in your defense of gun ownership. NZ First along with Act were the only two parties to stand up for our rights back in 2011. Richard was also the only politician with a sound knowledge of the issues we face. He is a keen advocate of the freedoms we seek in hunting and fishing - he combines United future's outdoors stance with a matching integrity on firearms. This is unique amongst our political parties. Please keep this in mind when you cast your vote in 2014. Remember, it is most likely that a minor party will be king maker at the next election! With this power they will be our best option for effecting positive change and reversing the damage from this amendment.

This leaves the Coalition of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) as the last "political" force to which we directed our campaign. As Kris Faafoi (Labour) requested, a quasi joint reference group was set up after the final voting (too late) for the amendment. This group known as the Firearms Community Advisory Forum (FCAF) involved members from what could have traditionally been called "Police Friendly". This hand picked group were chosen specifically based on a past positive relationship with the Police. There were no participating members who at the time time were seen as negative Police influences - notably missing the NSA. The group was confined to COLFO member organisations only and a single vender. This included NZ Antique and Historic Arms Association, New Zealand Deerstalkers Association, NZ Mountain Safety Council, NZ Service Rifle Association, Pistol NZ and New Zealand Ammunition Company. This group was setup to discuss the implementation of the new amendment but was made aware that no recommendations from the group were binding in the way police would implement policy. Unfortunately this was to prove true. In COLFOs last newsletter by Michael Dowling, he stated "I must admit I am left feeling the time spent on the forum to date has been wasted. There are those that believe the only way to effect practical changes to Arms Legislation is through the courts, I will be very disappointed if this proves to be the case." Pistol NZ President also stated in their latest Newsletter "I have expressed my disappointment in the process (and so have the other groups)". At the very least some of these organisations are finally realising the contempt Police and the current Government hold their views.

In regards to the the organisations that participated we have to applaud Pistol NZ. Soon after setting up this site we had pistol clubs from all over NZ joining our fight including the support of the governing body. Sadly Deerstalkers were represented by a lone proactive organisation from Napier. Hopefully with the huge growth of Semi Autos in this country we will start to see organisations such as NZDA and NZ Mountain Safety Council promote Semi Autos and their safe use.

FINALLY WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Currently your voice is channeled through organisation hierarchies that are then given a right to vote the direction taken by the likes of COLFO. With this kind of representation your voice is not heard, your opinions are not made visible for all to see. We would like to change that. The vast majority of you got to express your views on this page either by sharing our Facebook page, commenting or posting pictures. Some of us even had conflicting views about the Save Our Pistol Grips campaign. But at least on this page everyone got to express an opinion.

We would like to build on the success of this campaign and build a true coalition of hunters and shooters using modern social media where your voice is heard and your opinions debated. If we can grow this representation we might even see the day where you are officially represented in the decision making. We want to embrace social media as the new vehicle to allow you to express your desire for freedom in our sport. You will control the content and direction we all take. A Facebook "like" is all it will take to join. No fees. You will be a part owner and a participant in reinforcing your future. Hopefully we will announce this new site early new year.

Please let us know what you think. 2014 will be the start of complete, open, all encompassing firearm owner representation.

Finally i would like to thank all those organisations and vendors who helped raise the profile of our campaign. Please support these guys by membership or a little bit of Xmas shopping.

All the best for Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanks Toby

Thanks for the post Toby, definitely be thinking about who I vote for next year.

Yep, me too.