High-Velocity Rifles

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31154, 2 September 1966, Page 10

High-Velocity Rifles

Sir,—“Rod and Gun,” by J. Siers, yesterday was a chapter of disgusting horrors. I hope the Commissioner of Police reads the article very carefully. This new .17 ultra-high-velocity rille, which kills by massive shock, caused by the light-weight bullet violently disintegrating on impact, should be absolutely banned from New Zealand. This ban should apply also to the rifle which Mr Siers hopes to have soon for testing. In the interests of reasonable safety, a rifle so deadly, that, in the event of an accident there would be “no wounded shooters, only dead ones,” should not be tolerated. There are enough irresponsibles in the shooting field, for the Police Commissioner to make quite sure that none of them are armed with a horror weapon which “spoils meat for 14in to 16in in all directions from point • entry.” I sincerely hope that entry will be stopped.—Yours, etc., STOP THIS THING.

August 26, 1966. [ The Assistant Commissioner of Police (Mr G. C. Urquhart) replies: “Any new calibre or make of rifle has to be submitted to the Arms Bureau for testing before permission to import is issued. The testing includes firing the weapon. If the weapon does not meet our standards it is rejected. The Forest Service, which controls the majority of the hunting lands in New Zealand, does not permit rifles of a calibre of .22 or less to be taken on to its land. The New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association strongly discourages the use of inadequate rifles for hunting. Because of the lack of bullet weight I very much doubt whether a fast .17 calibre rifle would be very accurate at ranges of more than 100 yards. A bullet would lose its velocity very rapidly, and its energy to knock down and kill. Any rifle of a reasonable calibre will cause considerable damage if fired at a close range.”]