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What is it with this obsession with guns?

What is it with this obsession with guns?

Old Jan 18th 2007, 4:12 am
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Default What is it with this obsession with guns?

In all the time I've been here I've never really understood this thing that New Zealanders have about their firearms. Wairau park even has a hunting and fishing gun type shop, like we have a big need to track down wild boars on the North Shore ?

It looks like a lot of males here aren't happy unless they're out somewhere shooting the **** out of defenceless possum or deer, or each other.

New Zealanders own more than one million guns (there's only 4 million people here and some of those aren't yet old enough ) In recent raids on 55 gun dealers and collectors police were confiscated 500 weapons, including AK47s, Uzis, a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun ,G3 automatic rifle, M4 carbine assault rifles, AK74M, Saiga 12 gauge eight shotgun and Glock 17 pistols.

Now what exactly people need all that for is anyboy's guess, but I suspect that size has something to do with it..... if you get my drift
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 5:47 am
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Its not just the guns I remember when we first arrived and went into a little gift shop and there was a glass cabinet full of Rambo type hunting knives, the kind that have been banned in the UK for a long time, and Samurai swords are on sale just about everywhere.
Don't pay much attention to it all now, sounds like most people like to go out shooting. ( not all)
Told the missus I had to get a gun so we could fit in. lol
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 7:04 am
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by Nerine
In all the time I've been here I've never really understood this thing that New Zealanders have about their firearms. Wairau park even has a hunting and fishing gun type shop, like we have a big need to track down wild boars on the North Shore ?

It looks like a lot of males here aren't happy unless they're out somewhere shooting the **** out of defenceless possum or deer, or each other.

New Zealanders own more than one million guns (there's only 4 million people here and some of those aren't yet old enough ) In recent raids on 55 gun dealers and collectors police were confiscated 500 weapons, including AK47s, Uzis, a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun ,G3 automatic rifle, M4 carbine assault rifles, AK74M, Saiga 12 gauge eight shotgun and Glock 17 pistols.

Now what exactly people need all that for is anyboy's guess, but I suspect that size has something to do with it..... if you get my drift
Here we go again. people who think you need a gun instead of a penis extension. I dont collect stamps or stuff but everyone to his own ehh? it isnt just in NZ either, the uk gun crime rate has risen hugely since pistols were banned. You dont like NZ Nerine but let others make up their own minds please
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 11:49 am
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by SirEglamore
You dont like NZ Nerine but let others make up their own minds please
Are people only able to make up their own minds when they hear positives then?
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 12:25 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

What I'm saying is why do people assume gun owners are deficient in the trouser dept. at least we have a certificate to prove our sanity
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 12:59 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by SirEglamore
What I'm saying is why do people assume gun owners are deficient in the trouser dept. at least we have a certificate to prove our sanity
I don't assume that. Do you have a cert of sanity, really? I don't think BF does, is that a new thing?
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 2:22 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by mazi
I don't assume that. Do you have a cert of sanity, really? I don't think BF does, is that a new thing?
A licence to possess and hold firearms requires considerable medical and police checks to aquire, one point of which being ones mental stability

I often need to use a gun as a tool of my part time trade and as such it is just that, a tool. guns arent a problem, its the nut behind the butt that causes the trouble, and in UK now a days its the kids who want a gun as a fashion accesory that are the underlying problem. the laws as they stand are plenty to do the job, if only we had the police resources to catch them and judges with the balls to lock them up for the time they deserve.

Rant over........................................for now
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 2:28 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by SirEglamore
A licence to possess and hold firearms requires considerable medical and police checks to aquire, one point of which being ones mental stability

I often need to use a gun as a tool of my part time trade and as such it is just that, a tool. guns arent a problem, its the nut behind the butt that causes the trouble, and in UK now a days its the kids who want a gun as a fashion accesory that are the underlying problem. the laws as they stand are plenty to do the job, if only we had the police resources to catch them and judges with the balls to lock them up for the time they deserve.

Rant over........................................for now
Ah, paid more attention this time - your firearms licence is a UK one? BF's is an NZ one - hence I don't think he has a cert of sanity. I'll ask him tonight, I want to see it if he has one.

Why do you use a gun in your trade?

I don't like them myself - no, not quite true, I don't like the trigger-happy culture of NZ. Ie. the more mess you can make of an animal the better.
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 3:12 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by Nerine
In all the time I've been here I've never really understood this thing that New Zealanders have about their firearms. Wairau park even has a hunting and fishing gun type shop, like we have a big need to track down wild boars on the North Shore ?

It looks like a lot of males here aren't happy unless they're out somewhere shooting the **** out of defenceless possum or deer, or each other.

New Zealanders own more than one million guns (there's only 4 million people here and some of those aren't yet old enough ) In recent raids on 55 gun dealers and collectors police were confiscated 500 weapons, including AK47s, Uzis, a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun ,G3 automatic rifle, M4 carbine assault rifles, AK74M, Saiga 12 gauge eight shotgun and Glock 17 pistols.

Now what exactly people need all that for is anyboy's guess, but I suspect that size has something to do with it..... if you get my drift
Why do you think police confiscated these weapons? Simple. They were/are illegal ! NZ has always had a hunting fraternity and probably always will. Most kiwis don't own a gun (same in OZ and UK). The country with a REAL gun culture is USA, and their homicide rates are pretty shocking. But that said, most gun owners are responsible people, and if I lived in the US, I'd have a gun or two myself because there it would seem to be almost a necessity for your own protection (hence conceal and carry permits).
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 3:25 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by kiwi_child
Most kiwis don't own a gun (same in OZ and UK).
True, only about a quarter own a gun - but how come I only seemed to come into contact with those that did? Every single kiwi I knew owned a gun or 6 - every single one of them without exception - OK, some of them were women who happened not to (though some of the women did too, it is a country of supposedly equal rights) but their partners did.

I'm sure there must have been people I passed in the street who didn't own a gun but as I said of those I knew...
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 3:36 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Are we talking hunting rifles or handguns kept in people's houses for "self defence"? Are the latter allowed? And if so, can you drive around with your handgun in your car and have a concealed weapon, like you can in the US?
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 5:02 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by Maz
Are we talking hunting rifles or handguns kept in people's houses for "self defence"? Are the latter allowed? And if so, can you drive around with your handgun in your car and have a concealed weapon, like you can in the US?
Just questioned BF who said he does not have a cert of sanity but he did have to get references from several people saying he was 'sane', one of those refs had to be from a person superior in some way to him, eg. an employer but otherwise the refs could be from any old Joe down the road. He said handguns are allowed but you need another type of license for those, not just the 'single shot' type license, whatever that is. If you take your weapon in your car it must be unloaded and kept 'safe'.
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 5:08 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by Maz
Are we talking hunting rifles or handguns kept in people's houses for "self defence"? Are the latter allowed? And if so, can you drive around with your handgun in your car and have a concealed weapon, like you can in the US?
If I told you why I need a gun I'd have to shoot you but seriously I use one in a conservation capacity (vermin and deer) but am fully trained and also instruct shooting

No guns allowed in NZ for self defence. BIG no-no, all (legal) shooting in NZ is hunting or competition type stuff, pistols are allowed but again after in depth checks with referee's, family etc and a test at the cop shop
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 5:15 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Originally Posted by SirEglamore
If I told you why I need a gun I'd have to shoot you but seriously I use one in a conservation capacity (vermin and deer) but am fully trained and also instruct shooting

oh, scary

No guns allowed in NZ for self defence. BIG no-no, all (legal) shooting in NZ is hunting or competition type stuff, pistols are allowed but again after in depth checks with referee's, family etc and a test at the cop shop
No, BF said family were definitely not part of the checking thing - quite the opposite, he said they were kept firmly out of the picture - well, the police no doubt did a quick check that his family weren't murderers (of people) I'm sure. Yes to the other stuff though.
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Old Jan 18th 2007, 6:12 pm
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Default Re: What is it with this obsession with guns?

Here's the shocker though .... some of those 500 weapons were held legitimately and only seized because the owner showed signs of illegal activity.

A Detective Senior Sergeant from Hamilton police was reported as voicing his a concern that legally people can own any pretty well any firearm they please.

However the reason for the raids was to investigate the thriving black market trade in illegal firearms and the police were shocked at the amount of firearms that were unlawfully owned, the majority of which had been imported into the country illegally.

It's not uncommon to hear blokes sitting around bragging about what they are going to blow the **** out of on the weekend. The fact that some of them are considered safe enough to carry weapons really surprises me.

Last edited by Nerine; Jan 18th 2007 at 6:15 pm.
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