Thread: Swazi - Davey’s semiautomatic stance .

We hear a lot about ethically grown coffee for example, where we’re told our customer choice will support (in this case) the grower, and not some obscure middleman

I think it’s reasonable that hunters also consider the provenance of their purchases; was their choice supporting NZ workers, or is there a possibility the ethics of the overseas workplace that has manufactured the goods might be questionable?

Put it this way; I feel good buying Cactus gear. Members here will put forward other, reputable NZ manufacturers too. I think the “semi” argument is but a small part of our decision when considering our purchase choices, and bearing in mind our recent Covid experience, I for one am more mindful of who I spend my $ with, and where their goods were produced.

"He suggested people need more training, vetting and even psychological tests before licences were given out."

I thought this comment would have upset more people.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

Cant say I disagree with him.

I think this just comes down to what we use our rifles for. I use mine exclusively for pest control, and have seen things like;
1. $2000 worth of small tree seedlings taken out by hares in a single night (hence my use of double-tap semi auto 22)
2. a valley full of nikau seedlings (which I planted myself by hand in a weeks hard work) destroyed by feral goats and deer (hence my old E cat and whack the bastards technique)
3. 30,000 tree seedlings killed over a period of several weeks by goats and deer (as above)
so when someone tells me I should only be legally allowed to use a bolt action rifle to try to shoot 30-50 goats or 20 deer at a time because I am a dangerous psycho then I will be inclined to think they are a prick. Might be a great guy in every other respect, but anyone arrogant enough to say that someone else should lose their business just because they use their rifles for pest control instead of hunting or target shooting is a prick. He wants my business to suffer or maybe even get closed down to suit his opinion, surely he would not expect me to support him? Prick, Prick Prick. Simple enough equation in my mind.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

"He suggested people need more training, vetting and even psychological tests before licences were given out."

I thought this comment would have upset more people.

I think many of us would agree with this. Semi autos rifles in the hands of the general public are potentially dangerous to an inversely proportional rate to the amount of experience and background of the users.

The system should be such that it prevents untrustworthy individuals having access to ANY firearm, rather than the apparent total lack of trust for ALL individuals to have access to one type of firearm. I absolutely don't support his blanket distrust, and I will never afford nor like any of his jackets anyway.

One of the few privileges we have left is where we can spend our own money. I like Davey, I like his products, have a number of them. But, I will never forgive him for jumping on the "anti" bandwagon and throwing us under the bus. He could have just shut up. But he didn't, so I choose to spend my money elsewhere, and as I replace my gear as it wears out, Swazi or Cunting and Fisting wont be getting any of it. Will it make any difference to them? Probably not. But its my money, I will choose where I spend it, and support real NZ businesses that support the legacy I want to leave for my grandkids. There is a heap of quality product out there, Swazi does not have a monopoly on quality.

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

I think this just comes down to what we use our rifles for. I use mine exclusively for pest control, and have seen things like;
1. $2000 worth of small tree seedlings taken out by hares in a single night (hence my use of double-tap semi auto 22)
2. a valley full of nikau seedlings (which I planted myself by hand in a weeks hard work) destroyed by feral goats and deer (hence my old E cat and whack the bastards technique)
3. 30,000 tree seedlings killed over a period of several weeks by goats and deer (as above)
so when someone tells me I should only be legally allowed to use a bolt action rifle to try to shoot 30-50 goats or 20 deer at a time because I am a dangerous psycho then I will be inclined to think they are a prick. Might be a great guy in every other respect, but anyone arrogant enough to say that someone else should lose their business just because they use their rifles for pest control instead of hunting or target shooting is a prick. He wants my business to suffer or maybe even get closed down to suit his opinion, surely he would not expect me to support him? Prick, Prick Prick. Simple enough equation in my mind.




I think many of us would agree with this. Semi autos rifles in the hands of the general public are potentially dangerous to an inversely proportional rate to the amount of experience and background of the users.

You may well be an exception to the rule but I have met enough of the fuckwits he mentions to agree with him...and a double tap is a waste of ammo, placement of the first is most important

Originally Posted by Ground Control

This is one I found quickly, there are more out there where he elaborates his views .

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-count...ectid=12215228

Swazi and H&F are the first that come to mind when I think of “ bite the hand that feeds “

what an ignorant ass

Originally Posted by Ben Waimata

I think in this country we all agree that we don't want everyone to be able to access AR15 and Ak47 rifles, which is why we've had a firearms licencing system and why the police are supposed to be coming down hard on illegal firearms activities. But he goes a lot further, setting up the false argument that a hunter should need only one shot (true in a perfect world), therefore no one needs a semi auto. So in the world of Davey Hughes the only acceptable shooting is hunting. No pest control where you need to shoot multiple targets? No shooting sports? No service rifle? And anyone who needs a semi auto for any purpose outside the exalted realm of deer hunting is a dangerous psycho. Just another example of a prick stuck in the emotional rollercoaster of the time, unable to see outside his own narrow shooting use and eager to throw everyone else under the bus. I will never buy his stuff.

Totally.

What that guy fails to see is that a simple old .303 fed with stripper clips would have killed plenty enough to make society sick.
A bolt action can be worked fast enough to keep anyone from trying to have a go.

Or how about a bucket of sawn off 12ga shotguns? thats two shots of buckshot each, and probably ten shotguns in the bucket.
Weld a spike to the front of them and thats an extra stab wound if necessary....
Where there is a will there will always be a way, if you lot want to put the shits up your dickhead friends/family who think the gun ban is a good thing, you need to think like the coyote to explain how he would get around these laws.

SO a bucket of guns, with bayonets improvised.
A few pressure cookers packed with shotgun powder extracted from shells (if powder was heavily restricted etc) CHuck in a few tins of petrol and blamo! tarrant V2.0 is good to go.
Not to mention all the other things like bombs, arson, trucks mowing large groups down, poison etc etc etc

I have used arguments like this to explain the futility of these bullshit laws, and I hope that I left the audience not only stunned but pissed off!

Originally Posted by mimms2

He's famously a big-game hunter. Open sights, large calibre, bolt action.
He's also entitled to an opinion. I can only assume the statements in that article were cherry picked to suit the narrative, but if that's actually his position, then I couldn't disagree more.

As to not supporting "him"... unless he's donating or financially supporting "the other side", what you're taking support away from is NZ workers in an NZ business. He's just a figurehead with a private opinion.

As to "no need for AKs/ARs" and seemingly supporting a .22 semi ban (the article is a bit confuddled, which makes it seem more like cherry-picking), that's just crap. No-one "needs" more than a toyota carolla (and they kill more people in a year), So are we going to ban "high capacity" vehicles, over 2.0lt?
His experience has been slanted by africa and god knows where else, where the AK is a weapon used against people. Maybe Iraq or whatever where the same for AR. The NZ culture is so different to that it's not even relevant.

As to this: "I think you've got to look at those guys as well and say 'hold on' - what sort of vetting, what sort of training has gone on to ensure that those people are suitable to carry semi-automatic weapons?" How could that not apply to Police

I disagree, his products should be put on a list to be boycotted.

His opinion might be just his opinion, but he is in a position where the media used him as a general example of 'proper' hunters, all others are 'rambo' idiots.

Fuck him and his opinion.

Agree or disagree ...........the man like everyone else on here and NZ for that matter is entitled to and allowed an opinion.

Weather you purchase his brand is also a free choice you are entitled to, remember guys, opinions are like arseholes........everyone has one

Originally Posted by JoshC

So because he has a different opinion to you, he's a prick? And you expect him to change his opinion to suit yours because some journalist has asked him his? I don't agree with him, and that's fine by me. I know him through my best mates Dad. Always been a good person to chat too, and always been generous and interested in what we are doing. He's quite full on, driven, a good marketer and pretty eccentric in a way. Many people mistake that for other attributes, without talking to him. He's done a lot to put NZ hunting on the global map since Swazi was launched. I have heaps of Swazi gear, I only buy two or three items a year, at most, usually on sales, but have stuff that is over 10 years old and still in great condition. I still have a bush shirt I was given for a birthday 20 years ago, and apart from a few minor tears and it getting thread bare, it's still usable.. I don't think it's that much more expensive than other gear out there. Haven't tried any of their fleece made offshore yet, but bought a new hivis rain jacket last month (NZ Made) and it's 10 times better than a generic branded one you'd buy at a safety shop.

Weather or not the man is a good person or not, he should not have voiced his opinion.
Sure the media will publish and promote his opinion, but where is the other side of the story? We were never given a chance, his opinion and similar opinions of others were golden propaganda that was unfairly pushed into the public's brains.

I say fuck him, based on him telling me I should not have a semiauto. Arrogant fuck.

Sorry to bash your mate like that, but really, fuck him and his business.

Originally Posted by GDMP

Read the latest issue of fish and game magazine yesterday......I was pretty dissappointed to read their stance I must say,as I read it they basically threw semi-auto rifle owners under the bus in order to try and keep ownership of semi-auto hunting shotguns legal.Just out for themselves pretty much.Like most other firearm users in NZ.

They will be sorry when the semiauto shotguns are gone.
It wont take too long.

Originally Posted by Mohawk .308

"I think that in our society there's no need for guns the likes of AR15s and AK47s."

I can’t help but agree with this comment and they make quality gear, expensive but a lot better than the Chinese shit on offer.
I’ll still be buy Swazi.
As for H&F, I do my best to avoid buying from them but not for their views on semis.

How about semiauto shotguns?
Tube fed, easy to top up and keep killing.
A semiauto shotgun in Tarrants hands would have done the same if not worse. Actually, loaded with buckshot he would have killed way more.

how about a bucket of sawn off shotguns? ten guns is 20 shots, buckshot again. How about two buckets? thats 40 dead.

Maybe we should ban double barrel shotguns too.

Davey's opinion differs from mine on semi auto ownership which is fine.But I feel he threw us under the bus for his on self promotion,So I cancelled a order for wet weather gear for the staff and have always supported nz made gear for work were we could.Going forward I will never support swazi again.

Originally Posted by SiB

We hear a lot about ethically grown coffee for example, where we’re told our customer choice will support (in this case) the grower, and not some obscure middleman

I think it’s reasonable that hunters also consider the provenance of their purchases; was their choice supporting NZ workers, or is there a possibility the ethics of the overseas workplace that has manufactured the goods might be questionable?

Put it this way; I feel good buying Cactus gear. Members here will put forward other, reputable NZ manufacturers too. I think the “semi” argument is but a small part of our decision when considering our purchase choices, and bearing in mind our recent Covid experience, I for one am more mindful of who I spend my $ with, and where their goods were produced.

Its all about the semi gun ban for me. always will be.