Proposed gun law betrays the Christchurch tragedy victims

There are a small number of decisions made by the government since it took office that I agree with. There are many decisions they have made that I disagree with while being able to see the other side.

In general, I think that our civil society is best served through reasoned argument and keeping the temperature moderate rather than red hot.

But there are exceptions.

Sometimes, governments propose change that is so dangerous, ill-conceived and contrary to standards of decency that they deserve the full brunt of public opprobrium.

In this case, I speak of Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee’s appallingly ill-judged intention to allow more people to own Military Style semi-automatic weapons.

The terrible March tragedy

Following the horror of the March 15, 2019 terrorist attack that saw 51 innocent people murdered, New Zealand collectively came together and committed we would do everything possible to stop anything like this from ever happening again. One of the key steps was to remove as many of these dangerous weapons from our community as possible.

Chairing the Select Committee that oversaw this legislation was one of my proudest Parliamentary contributions. We heard from gun owners, trauma specialists, Police, and victims. I was struck by how the calls to ban these dangerous weapons had gone unheeded for over 30 years.

Every time any government had gotten close to taking action, the gun lobby put pressure on and forced a backdown. Fortunately, this time the resolve was there. Under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership, Parliament came together and 120/121 MPs voted to make New Zealand a safer place.

This point is important.

We worked hard to build consensus and especially to have the support of the National Party so that this important change could be enduring for our country.

The political scene

Judith Collins was the lead National member on the Select Committee and was a staunch ally in passing this important legislation.

Yet now, ACT Minister Nicole McKee is proposing to attack this important law and has indicated she wants to loosen restrictions by allowing more people to own these dangerous weapons. This is utter folly.

The lesson of March 15 is that it just takes one of these weapons, which can fire hundreds of rounds per minute, to cause utter devastation. Simply put, the more of these weapons that are in circulation, the bigger the risk.

The Minister suggests that the ban is an overreach that is unfair to some in the competitive shooting sector. While it is true that some competitive shooters lost the right to use their preferred weapons, many others are lawfully available.

For me and most New Zealanders, the choice between a small reduction in the liberty of competitive shooters, and action to minimise the possibility of another atrocity like March 15 is not a difficult one to make.

Nicole McKee entered Parliament from the gun lobby.

She should use her background and knowledge of firearms to ensure that the sector is well-regulated and safe, not to take us backwards and betray the consensus our country reached after March 15.

The National Party, which did the right thing five years ago needs to re-find its compass and stop this madness.

Michael Wood is a former Labour MP and Minister, He currently works for Etū, the Union which is supporting the Save our Stories Campaign.