Originally Posted by
Mauser308
Regardless of how many rounds a magazine holds, it only takes one bullet fired in the wrong place to create a shit storm of epic proportions.
I can own a .50cal or a Boyds anti-tank converted, or a 20mm Bofor converted as an A-cat firearm yet I can't own a semi-automatic centerfire rifle with a magazine capacity larger than 7 rounds?
I personally think the police need to either concentrate on the criminals and pass firearms licensing, enforcement and policy onto an agency that can cope with it OR get real. We are either fit and proper to own a firearm of any class or we aren't. This half arsed approach of you can have this but you can't have that is not sustainable or sensible.
If a person is too dodgy to own an e-cat, why the hell are they allowed to own anything that goes bang?
Regardless of intent, a firearm is a firearm and the Military Style Semi-Automatic class just doesn't exist. It's a fundamentally flawed policy implemented by people who need to find a way to keep their job and a solution to a problem that only exists in Wellington... Yes there have been firearms used in mass shootings, in every case that I've looked into the perpetrator was not or was no longer a fit and proper person. If the current rules had been followed the crime would not have occurred...
I'm sorry, but any time a rule about storage conditions and license classes is defined by a part that clicks on and off at will and costs less that $100 to buy it just will not be successful. There are so many A-cat firearms now registered on E-cat endorsements after the gimmee-E handouts that the whole thing has become a farce. Police have seriously dropped the ball on this, as a E-cat firearm can be confused as A-cat and vice-versa just because it currently isn't fitted with the correct mag (of which there may be several handfuls to choose from). Bah...
What a way to create a ballsup...