Police on the East Coast have been told to carry firearms with them after gang brawls in the Napier suburb of Taradale and Ruatoria.
Thirty to forty Mongrel Mob and Black Power members fought in broad daylight outside a McDonalds on Sunday and one man was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.
In Ruatoria on Saturday shots were fired between people in two cars and a person at a house.
But a lifetime member of Black Power is objecting to police drawing links between the two shootings, saying it could make tensions worse.
Denis O'Reilly says gang violence should be treated as a public health issue - like a virus that needs to be carefully contained.
