Police botched NZ terror gun licence
Ben McKay | Wingham Chronicle | June 16, 2020
A bombshell report claims the Christchurch mosques terrorist was wrongly granted a firearms licence by New Zealand police, allowing him to compile the weapons used to murder 51 people.
As New Zealand's post-March 15 firearms regime returned to parliament on Tuesday, news outlet Stuff alleged Dunedin police did not subject Australian man Brenton Tarrant to the necessary background checks.
Stuff reports that police did not interview a family member as required, and instead questioned a father and son living more than 1000km away on North Island, who Tarrant met through an internet chat room.
Police say they followed a back-up procedure to grant Tarrant a licence, which included a visit to his Dunedin residence in October 2017.
With the findings of a royal commission into the mosques shootings due next month, police have declined further comment.
Coincidentally or otherwise, the Arms Legislation Bill also returned to parliament this week, which includes a provision to strip police of their licensing ability.
That power will be given to a new authority as part of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's much-delayed second tranche of gun law reforms.
The government moved quickly in the wake of last year's atrocity to make a first wave of reforms.
Ms Ardern banned semi-automatic weapons and created a gun buyback scheme with a vote of 119-1 in parliament.
A second wave - to establish a national firearms register, alter licensing requirements and bulk up non-compliance penalties - stalled due to intra-government squabbles.
However, government partners Labour and NZ First appear to have reached a compromise to ensure the law can be passed ahead of September's election.
"It looks like a deal has been done," COLFO spokeswoman Nicole McKee told AAP.
NZ First has watered down the legislation, allowing farmers the right to apply for prohibited firearms for pest control, and a longer lead-in time for the firearm registry, which won't come into force until 2023.
Asked why a farmer might need an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a weapon believed to have been used by Tarrant in New Zealand's worst mass shooting, Ms Ardern said "cases where you are dealing with particular goats and so on".
"There are still very strict criteria on access," Ms Ardern.
"We should be open to the fact that when you put out a proposal, you get the feedback on how workable it is."
Tarrant's sentencing has been delayed due to COVID-19 but is likely to take place in the next two months.
