Thread: Man who shot teen dead in hunting accident 22 years ago loses firearms licence bid

Originally Posted by Cordite

@Solo


What makes me VERY uncomfortable about this whole affair is that the withholding of a firearms license is used as a de-facto ongoing punishment for him screwing up 22 yrs ago, likely made worse by living in a small community where some obviously hang on hard to their grudges and the local cops are too close to some parties to do their job properly and impartially (read Solo's article).

All legal penalties on this man got handed out in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. NZ Police has no business engaging in vigilantism by seeking to impose further penalty on someone through declining his firearms license application. That should be done on no other basis than if he is/isn't (not was or wasn't) "a fit and proper person".

A court judge in Invercargill refused the licence on the grounds he's not a fit and proper person. After the police refused to give it back on the on the same grounds.

Judge Mark Callaghan refused Diack's bid to get his licence back, pointing to the 1996 tragedy and two incidents in 2013 and 2014 to show Diack was not a fit and proper person to hold a firearms licence.

Doesn't sound like an ongoing punishment or seeking to impose a further penalty to me.