Gun owners must change their licence, or hand over their gun

Chipping away at peoples rights/privilidges constantly is no good for said "people". Where will our grandkids be 50 years from now? We need to think about them and their future rights and provilidges! This move by the cops will not stop criminals having guns. This is common knowledge.

I have yet to hear the police offer any REASON for promoting this rubbish.
I accept that there is a massive lack of education in relation to firearms in Urban NZ, given that ignorance breeds fear, it is not surprising this is the kind of thing the police will get away with. Combine that with the media covering ONLY incidents such as Napier, Aramoana, Raurimu etcetera, and you're left with a public that is unaware of the thousands of bullets fired daily that do not hurt or kill anyone, that are fired by responsible individuals in accordance with the law.

And when we come to an incident such as the slaying of Mr. Naitoko on Aucklands motorway, no-one seems to question that Greg O'Connor can say "It's [a] sad reality that dangerous and violent CRIMINALS put the lives of others at risk every day."
When 5 shots were fired by 3 differnt police officers and only one of them hit someone, who was not supposedly the target, that leaves 4 bullets unaccounted for. Had the police been acting in accordance with the law they are supposed to uphold, this would never have happened, yet this does not accord the public outcry that Mr Mollejnaar recieved?

The basest fact is that criminals do not care what the law says.
Violent deaths (including suicide) account for only 2.5% of deaths per annum in nz (MoH)
Which represents 63 Murders in 2006, absolutely none of which were caused by firearms used in accordance with the law. The police would do better to focus on preventing the some 130 assaults that occur daily.

When a government that takes tax off "citizens" and then tell them what they can and cannot do, they become rulers, not leaders, and we become subjects, not citizens.
As subjects of a totalitarianistic state
(71 ministerial portfolios, (including seperate ones for sport and recreation, racing, rugby etc)) every aspect of our lives is dictated to a beauraucratic schedule.

I believe education, not legislation is what's called for.

First off, owning a firearm in NZ is not a right, it is a privilege that we must prove we are worthy of.
But this change to the police interpretation of the arms act, rightly gives law abiding license firearms owners, who are already police approved, an uneasy feeling about the police ultimate intentions.
As a few years ago the police provided, the then Labour Police Minister, a report where they outlined that there was no current issue with the E Category licenses, but recommended that it be scrapped in the future anyway.
i.e. Now get everyone with thumbhole stocks to apply for the E Category license, and then in a few years get rid of that category all together along with the law abiding owners guns.
Personally, I do not want or need any MSSA firearm, but with modern technology and materials, ergonomically designed thumbhole stocks are being placed on more and more target rifles. I like the idea of shooting and hunting with accurate modern rifles, and it seems the Police are trying to hold back technology. Maybe we will eventually only be able to hunt with muskets.
BTW, Nice background image at the start of the TV 3 News report, which is totally unrelated to the story as the rifle pictured is already an E Cat. Just more sensationalism to sell the story and mislead the public.

How on earth can a firearm with a Pistol Grip be more dangerous than one without?

I personally find pistol grips provide a much better form for firearm stability and therefore safety, when shooting or hunting. Furthermore there is absolutely no justification for this new law change given by Green, just a bunch of jibberish.

I wonder if he might actually require a thorough psycological evaluation to assess why he as a member of a Police force that is supposed to protect the personal safety of New Zealanders, he would do this..

I cant believe that keen hunters and licensed gun owners of new Zealand are having there rights taken from them in this way, its only a pistol grip and it does not change the way a gun shoots or what it shoots.take all the guns from all the legal gun owners and the only guns around will be in the hands of criminals.

Please fight for your gun rights! No government that is concerned about its people ever takes away its weapons, it is only the elitist bastards that think they know better that do this. If the law is wrong the line between criminal and law biding citizen becomes blurred when people that do not break laws are classified as criminals!

James Innes there is a group now - the National Shooters Association, www.nsanz.org.nz

There will be a court case combating the fallacious re-interpretation of the arms act.

The thin edge of the wedge for Kiwi Shooters soon you will have ,like Australia ridiculous gun laws that will infringe on your rights,at the same time the crooks will be able to buy the blackmarket guns and use them for criminal acts ,then every time that happens they will punish the legal registered shooters who do the right thing. The safe keeping of firearms however is sensible so buy your safe store your weapons safely and hope they dont get any tougher with Gun Laws. Aust and NZ both need an NRA style political group in to keep the anti gun lobby honest.Let alone the Liberal media !!Hi Ed .

Good on TV3 for moving this in its rightful category under "Police" section of news. Now if only TV3 would investigate police spending $60,000 of tax payer money trying to sell this crappy change to us that is currenty the subject of a judicial review according to www.nsanz.org.nz\pages\litigation.html

I'm sure the criminals will obey this new law. It's pretty obvious this is nothing more than a grab at peoples personal freedoms more than a community safety issue. I hope you Kiwi's fight and overturn this stupid new law before they keep eating away at your rights even though you have not broken the law.