Thread: How do crims get their firearms, Mr Cahill?

Originally Posted by Mintie

Hah, I saw this video a few days ago and the errors in it, the general tone of it and the scaremongering in it really struck a sore point with me. Ended up writing the below complaint to the editor yesterday. Will replay on this post once I hear back from them.

Attn Murray Kirkness,

I would like to formally complain about the article from 11/8/2024 - "Police push to ban 3D-printed gun blueprints amid rise in manufacturing by organized crime"

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police...J2MMOMPG4MSPU/

Involved in the video

Bruce Berry - Customs Intellegence Manager
Detective Superintendant Greg Williams - Director of the National Organised Crime Group
Michael Morrah interviewing.
Mark Mitchel and Ben Dickens on camera
Editor Murray Kirkness

The video, including its video inserts and backing soundtrack, is factually incorrect as outlined below and is done in a very inflammatory, opinionated and scaremongering manner. Feel free to fact check my comments below in italic on these 3 errors. The whole article is very biased and shows no investigative journalism value at all.

In response I would like to see the video and article removed from your website and any social media posts including Youtube, a public apology highlighting the errors I have pointed out in the video, and in the interests of public concern a second video asking the 2 "experts" how they got these facts so wrong in the first place when they are the ones our country is depending on to do their jobs correctly to reduce firearm crime in NZ.

1:32 into the video "Why do you care about this? So this is a cleaning kit for a M3 Machine pistol, Right so a machine gun?" the video then changes scene to a video of a machine gun being fired in another country.
This statement and the following video is absolutely incorrect and totally inflammatory, the kit pictured is an o ring sealing kit for a FX pcp airgun - the empty plastic bag beside it even says FX on it, FX only make airguns and are one of the biggest manufactures of airguns world wide. This oring kit is not a firearm part and has nothing to do with a machine gun or pistol, it is just rubber O rings for an airgun, does not even require a permit to import and the o rings themselves are an over-the-counter item at any engineering store in NZ. The fact it has been seized at the border at all is incorrect and the purchaser should actually be reimbursed for any inconvenience caused by this. Including the video of machine guns going off after discussing these tiny bits of rubber for an airgun is extremely inflammatory and only done to try and scare people.

2:42 "Even airguns that fire plastic pellets can be made lethal with a few parts and instructions from the internet. This is a plastic air pistol and it is going to be destroyed. the importer does not have a permit for it, concerning thing about this is that it looks like a real firearm and INFACT you can convert this into a proper functioning firearm that fires bullets so its important this type of thing doesn't get into the wrong hands."
This statement is also incorrect, there is no evidence that plastic airsoft pistols have been, or even can be, converted into proper functioning firearms or that they can be modified to be lethal. There has only been one airgun made that could be converted to fire live ammunition, they stopped making them in the 1980s and the are very rare with only a handful of them in NZ sitting in proper collections as they are very valuable. This is scaremongering and inflammatory.

6:22 "What are known as airsoft gel blasters, toy guns which fire gel pellets as opposed to plastic ones, However police say some versions of both the blank guns and the gel guns can be modified to fire real bullets. Williams wants them banned. 100% ya know they don't have any value here, the starter pistols that come in, the ones you actually start the races with that cant be converted we have no issues with obviously, but the others of course we want to stop them."
The statements and the messaging behind this are all wrong, like above there is no evidence at all to show that a gel blaster can be modified to fire real bullets, they are nothing more than 2 plastic shells with a motor assembly inside. Claiming there is no value for them here is just one persons very biased opinion, they are a toy and are very much enjoyed by many people across the country. Firearm experts have also made it clear that blank firing guns are not "easily modified to shoot real ammunition". You also didn't research this and failed to ask why the blank firing firearms law was actually relaxed in 2019 (with the approval of the police), pre 2019 you needed a theatrical licence to buy or own a blank firing gun but since the government relaxed the law anyone over 18 can buy one over the counter and there is no way to trace how many anyone buys or owns. This change was made partly to reduce the administrative burden on the police for having to process these licences so they have some accountability to be held to here and it is in public interest to do that.

I look forward to your response

Well bloody done @Mintie. Nothing like a bunch of cold hard facts being pushed back under their noses. If they don't like dealing with facts, perhaps they should go and write novels, or become an actor for Woke Disney