A gun control advocacy group is calling for an end to firearms advertising to help stem gun violence.
Hera Cook wants both guns and people to be licensed, similar to vehicle licensing Photo: RNZ Insight / Philippa Tolley
A 32-year-old man was shot and critically injured by police in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn on Monday evening, after shooting at his own house and then turning his gun on police.
On Tuesday evening, a house and two vehicles were shot at in the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes.
Gun Control New Zealand has called for an end to firearms advertising.
"We have pretty out of control firearms retail," group founder Hera Cook said.
"Some gun retailers, you could almost describe them as provocative in terms of what they've done with their advertising over the past five years."
Cook told Morning Report some retailers were advertising to children.
Hunters knew where to buy guns, the rest of New Zealand did not need guns advertised to them, Cook said.
She said there was anywhere between 1.2 million and 1.7 million guns in the country, and it was easy enough for unlicenced individuals to get their hands on one.
This year's Budget set aside $208 million over four years to establish a new Firearms Business Unit within police to oversee the register and other ongoing Arms Act legislative changes.
New firearm laws came into effect in February, including more stringent vetting for licences and tougher rules for ammunition sellers.
A nationwide register was due to come into force in 2023.
But Cook said there was no control over firearms advertising and there would be no limits on personal arsenals when the register came into place.
"An individual will still be able to own as many guns as they want."
With inadequate control, people could sell their firearms to people they don't know, she said.
The advocacy group thinks both guns and individuals should be licensed. "The same way that we have for cars."
"We've got a basic problem, we've got the 13th highest rate of civilian ownership of firearms in the world in New Zealand, we've had 40 years of no register and records which is what our gun lobby has consistently pushed to maintain as the situation."
