Thread: Feeling sick after reading this !

It would be interesting to split out pistols as a separate category - excluding cut down firearms. If we could then see how many of the pistols police recovered, then see how many of those were stolen or fenced by a license holder - the difference would imply the number coming in via freight - or on fishing boats etc. My instinct is that a vast majority of pistols in circulation with gangs would be illegal imports. Why would a gang bother to conceal and import a semi shotgun when they can access them here? On the other hand a pistol is a scarce commodity. And for most of us law abiding people - including police - I'm guessing that bumping in to a crim with a concealed pistol is a far more dangerous and likely thing than seeing one wandering around with a semi shotgun? I accept that for police doing search warrants etc - the risk of running into an illegal MSSA or similar is most concerning, whereas for many it would be the risk of someone pulling out a pistol - or knife. I saw in the paper that a gang member recently prosecuted in Rotorua said he would buy 100 9mm pistols the same as the sample he was shown.....

Originally Posted by Northkiwi

It would be interesting to split out pistols as a separate category - excluding cut down firearms. If we could then see how many of the pistols police recovered, then see how many of those were stolen or fenced by a license holder - the difference would imply the number coming in via freight - or on fishing boats etc. My instinct is that a vast majority of pistols in circulation with gangs would be illegal imports. Why would a gang bother to conceal and import a semi shotgun when they can access them here? On the other hand a pistol is a scarce commodity. And for most of us law abiding people - including police - I'm guessing that bumping in to a crim with a concealed pistol is a far more dangerous and likely thing than seeing one wandering around with a semi shotgun? I accept that for police doing search warrants etc - the risk of running into an illegal MSSA or similar is most concerning, whereas for many it would be the risk of someone pulling out a pistol - or knife. I saw in the paper that a gang member recently prosecuted in Rotorua said he would buy 100 9mm pistols the same as the sample he was shown.....

There was one article recently that showed a make and model of pistol recovered by Police that's only been made in the last few years - it would stand to reason that it would have to be on the register if it was a legal import but the details were not in the article. I can't find it now, which is a little annoying.