Thread: Public perception of rifles

Originally Posted by Tentman

I've just recently been "out and about" in public areas with a couple of rifles, both in bags, from Wellington to Invercargill without a second glance from anybody. Generally I'd be wary of cities and the really popular walking tracks start/finish carparks etc.

I'd say "body language" has a lot to do with it, I can think of a guy who always walks like he's gonna kill something and I think he'd quickly be potted if he was seen walking with a gun bag (like the poor bugger in Chch some years ago who somehow got the full AO response when walking down the street with a firearm in a bag). A nod, eye contact and a smile solves a hell of a lot of problems.

If I was doing a lot of it I'd also invest in a rectangular gun bag that doesn't give away/advertise its contents.

If that is the event I am remembering, it was in Fendalton, and it was not a gun in a bag. He had walked to the place where he had purchased an EMPTY gunbag and was carrying it home over his shoulder. If it is a different incident, then I still remember this one. And yes, you read correctly, he had purchased (via trade me) a second hand gun bag and that was what he was carrying......Now do not get me wrong, if someone is walking down a street, intent on doing harm to others and carrying any sort of weapon, I fully expect the appropriate response from Police.....but an empty wobbly gun bag....the mind does wonder a little.