Warwick Thorpe’s submission on the Arms Legislation Bill makes for sobering reading. What is really pertinent about this submission is that it is made by someone who has a close association with the upper echelons of the Police.
It is well worth reading the whole submission:
Submission on the Arms Legi… by The BFD on Scribd
This submitter highlights the feedback we are receiving from within the firearms community. Stuart Nash as Police Minister is presiding over the destruction of public trust in the Police.
This submitter highlights that the law changes affect more than a million voters, and they are not best pleased.
He also highlights the shonky group-think in the upper echelons of the Police and myths that the Police themselves promulgate.
The sheer incompetence he highlights also matches our own story about the data destruction at the Kapiti data centre.
But the biggest problem is actually the existing database and what it teaches us. Presently only managing restricted and former MSSA’s with now Prohibited items joining , this database is something I work with constantly. I and every endorsed person along with every honest Arms Officer and Vetter will assure you the database is constantly in a broken state. Firearms suddenly appear and vanish from our licences and sometimes over and over. To get my P endorsement I found myself asked about a large number of firearms the Kapiti centre thought I had which I don’t but because I keep scrupulous paper records (hard copy signed Police documents) I was able to get their system back to “true” but heaven help anyone who hasn’t kept good paper records. Once I got my P I asked for a full audit list and again a page full of errors, all at Kapiti end as my paperwork was correct, the database had wandered off again since my last audit. This is so regular we all automatically assume every audit we will have to fix the data record again and assume it is always incorrect… the scary thing is the Police assume its their problem as well each time. This is with skilled and experienced field trained staff who are heading toward redundancy to be replaced by data entry people without the skills to solve these endless issues. So this has taught us all that the Police are incompetent (again in its literal meaning) in maintaining the integrity of a relatively small database so with the threat of severe penalties and a regime of burden of proof shifting to the user you will understand the push back against the Police desire for this new management environment is rationally considerable and people will simply never accept it. Even if it is passed this Bill will become the target of zealous political energy and while we don’t have an NRA here this Bill is likely to birth one . Eventually it would be a condition of getting elected to get rid of it and everyone who supported it. The mood is totally uncompromising about that out here in the community.”
He correctly surmises that their over-reach in dealing with this legislation is going to cost more than a few people their jobs.
He is right that this over-reach will likely birth a Kiwi version of the NRA, and it will likely have considerable resources to influence and effect changes in law and MPs.
The government has a massive problem on their hands now, and if people like Warwick Thorpe are refusing to assist the Police then they are sunk and so is this law.
Nothing in the proposed changes will make anyone safer.