Should the people have firearms?

Press, 17 July 1979, Page 19

Should the people have firearms?

Any observer at the New Zealand Deerstalkers Conference held in Christchurch recently, might well have noticed a note of ire about a reported statement by Detective Superintendent J. F Stevenson that "guns have no place in our society and we are going to take certain steps to ensure this.” The Detective Superintendent was of course, talking about the use of firearms in many crimes, especially a recent fatal shooting in Auckland.

It is all too easy to put the blame squarely on the shoulders of private owmership of firearms. It is al) too easy to ignore the real cause — the human being who pulls a trigger to commit a crime. The real use lies de-,.-. i social and economic factors and the trend tow-ards violence and selfishness in society. Having said that, one is left with the thought as to what might happen to the 99.9 per cent of the 400,000 New Zealanders who own firearms and use

them for hunting, rifle range shooting, and clay target sports. Clearly they are not going to be pleased at any moves to restrict public ownership of firearms. Will it solve the rising crime rate if firearms ownership is denied to the public? I personally doubt it. Just as drugs are illegally, and easily, smuggled into and around New Zealand, so too could firearms be. In short, criminals will obtain a weapon somehow. The thought of firearms •

conjures up an emotiv.e hysteria among some authorities. Why is not the common bread knife, used in many murders, not subjected to the same threats of denied public ownership? Overseas examples are interesting. Israel has apprently given wider gun owning powers to its citizens. Ant’ anti-firearm advocate would tell you this means soaring crime rates, especially murders. But a recent report from the

American magazine, “Field and Stream” stated that “despite the prevalence of guns in Israel, shooting incidents are few some stolen weapons have found their way into the Tel Aviv underworld, where a few ganglandstyle shootings have occurred: but cases where ordinary citizens turn to guns to settle arguments are almost unheard of among Israelis.” Two, three and more decades ago in New Zealand, when there were, on

a population basis, as many firearms as today, crime was significantly very much lower than today. No, the root cause must lie elsewhere than firearm ownership. Sportsmen, whether deerstalkers or duckshooters, do not commit crimes. Ow-nership of a firearm does give a good opportunity for a citizen to appreciate just how lethal a firearm can be, and therefore accord it respect and care in handling. Giving a firearm to a

youngster should not be looked upon in horror. Given good guidance and sensible parental control, a youngster can be shown how to handle a firearm safely and with respect. It introduces him or her to a healthy outdoor sport of hills and bush, lakes and riverbeds. Proper instruction involves the teaching of sportsmanlike ways, such as never killing needlessly and ensuring that a shot at a. game of animal is straight and true. I do believe that firearm own-

ership for a young boy is a good promise to make to him. I say “promise” because it is wise to control the owmership — the parent .should own the gun or rifle until he feels the youngster is ready for full ownership. In the meantime, the youngster can be taught sound ways and attitudes Firearm ownership is a traditional right for new Zealanders in a country with a strong love of the outdoors.

By

TONY ORMAN