The Police decided that sporting versions of Military Style Semi-Automatic Assault Rifles need reclassification, presumibly from a D A category to a C E category, which would have necessitated the registering of every one of the re-classified rifles and increased security.
A rifle owner asked for a Judicial review of the Police decision and has found, thankfully, that the Police were wrong in law by unilaterally deciding for themselves about the re-classification.
Laws are written by parliament, enforced by the Police and interpreted by the judiciary. Thankfully the High Court Judge in this instance knows where the boundaries lie and knows how to read a rather simple law. Hopefully he will recommended that the Police responsible be forced to take remedial reading classes.
Now in the unlikely event you believe the bunkum posted by Pol Pot supporter Keith Locke, and we all know what happened to the disarmed population of Cambodia, have a check of some basic facts about one rifle in question.
The owner, Richard Lincoln, the National Shooters Association president, owns a Heckler & Koch SL8 rifle. Personally I think they are ugly and heavy, but each to their own. Now a quick check of Wikipedia confirms what I suspected;
To adapt the SL8 for the civilian market, the pistol grip and folding stock of the G36 have been replaced by a fixed stock with a thumbhole, and the receiver has been modified to prevent attachment of the G36 folding stock. In addition, to comply with the Gun Control Act of 1968 (as presently construed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms or ATF) SL8 rifles exported to the United States have been modified so that they will not accept staggered, normal-capacity 20 and 30 round G36 magazines. U.S. SL8 rifles accept only a single-column, 10-round magazine. Other modifications have been made to the SL8 including a lightened trigger pull, adjustable cheekpiece and buttplate to customize the fit to the user, and a heavier, more accurate barrel. The SL8 does not come with the carry handle and built in optics of the G36, although these can be purchased aftermarket and fitted to the weapon.
Many parts from the G36 series can be fitted to the SL8, but the pistol grip and folding stock cannot be used without modification.
Got that, this is a rifle that is purely and simply a sport version of a standard issue German Army rifle. The Police in New Zealand however decided that they knew better than manufaturer’s own design specifications and unilaterally declared that this rifle was an MSSA. The High Court Judge has disabused the Police of the notion that it is they who write the laws of this country.
The Police also neglect to observe that changing the law will NOT prevent people like Jan Molenaar from obtaining the weapons that they want. They are criminals and laws are ignored by such people. Thus Gun Control laws only succeed is dis-arming the law-abiding and enabling the law-less.
I might point out that in the USA the state with the lowest gun related crime are those with Open-Carry laws. That is you are legally able to carry a firearm as long as it is clearly visible to the general public. basically a criminal will NOT attempt to rob you if there is a high chance of him being shot by a person who is probably more trained and accurate than he is. They go for the soft targets, the unarmed citizen. There is a reason why the second Amendment of the United States of America retains, and continues to retain the right of the people to “keep and bear arms”. It has been challenged and never altered. The first amendment of course the right to freedom of speech. Basically the eminent fathers of the Constitution knew you can’t have one without a safe guard against a government trying to dominate or restrict unduly the population.
