New Zealand’s Royal Commission into the Christchurch shooting rubbishes Jacinda’s gun law response. This has been widely reported in the US and Canada in this article, while I have seen nothing about it in New Zealand media!
Police negligence
Ardern claimed that new laws were needed because the killer got his guns legally. The facts say otherwise. The Royal Commission found that police negligence allowed the terrorist, a racist environmentalist, to get his firearms licence.
The Commission documented how Police mismanagement was responsible, “the guidance given by the New Zealand Police to licensing staff was inadequate, as was their training.” Had the police followed proper guidelines, the terrorist would not have been allowed to buy firearms. In short, better administrative practices were needed, not sweeping new laws. The Police reacted by demanding increased powers to fight terrorism.
In the words of the Royal Commission, “known risks and deficiencies in the firearms licensing system were not addressed.” Instead of focusing on improving police management, Ardern exploited New Zealand’s shock at the terrorist attack to blame easy access to firearms, particularly military-style semi-automatic rifles, in order to vastly expand government powers. Her promises made immediately after the terrorist attack to change the gun laws were backed by the Police and opposition parties.
justiceforgunowners.ca
Stephen Franks commented on the Commission’s extension of report date, saying, “There is a great need for careful reflective investigation independent of a Police force that has become nakedly engaged in political advocacy.”
Some comments from the report:
“known risks and deficiencies in the firearms licensing system were not addressed.”
[…] Prime Minister Ardern and the Police Commissioner publicly apologised. Ardern apologised on behalf of the Government and directly to the Muslim community in New Zealand. Unfortunately, Ardern did not apologise for her personal responsibility for changing, perhaps weakening, the gun laws prior to the terrorist getting his guns. Nor did she apologise for introducing unnecessary and ineffective gun laws. Instead, she expressed regret for not expanding government sufficiently to “keep everyone safe.”
Everyone has apologised but no one is to blame. Ardern and her government officials made it clear that the Royal Commission exonerated them.
It didn’t.
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