Guns for self defense is a basic human fundamental right!
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The Press
10 November 1999

Invasions prompt inquiries for guns

WELLINGTON — More people are trying to arm themselves with
guns in the wake of an increase in home invasions, say gun sellers.

Petone gun-shop owner John Howat was one of several gun sellers to
have noticed a surge in gun-purchase inquiries and said it was a
direct reaction to home invasions.

Gun laws introduced in 1973 made it illegal for people to buy
weapons for self-defence.

Barry Cholmondeley, of Naenae, Lower Hutt, was the latest
home-invasion victim after being stabbed, kicked and burnt with
boiling broth when three attackers broke into his home at the
weekend.

Mr Howat said frightened single women were the most common customers,
telling him they felt vulnerable and feared they would be targeted
next. As well as home invasion, women also feared the possibility
of rape.

“Every time, after we see a home invasion or rape, we get people
coming in trying to buy firearms for self-defence purposes,” he said.

Mr Howat, executive director of the Council of Licensed Firearms
Owners, estimated that inquiries at his store had grown from none
to at least five a week.

As most people would not approach gun shops because they knew it
was illegal to buy guns for self-defence, Mr Howat felt the surge
in inquiries was the tip of the iceberg.

Other gun-shop owners had noticed an increasing interest in gun
ownership.

Most gun sellers wanted the law reviewed to enable the sale of
guns for self-defence.

Karori gun-shop owner Din Collings said that if people were not
allowed guns they would start looking for alternative forms of
protection.

Mr Collings said a regulated industry could aid crime prevention.

He cited the case of Florida, in the United States, where increased
gun sales coincided with a drop in rapes. Mr Collings said the same
measures could decrease New Zealand home-invasion statistics.

Mr Howat said weapons of a “less lethal” nature, such as the illegal
mace spray, could be effective.

“We have to do something, we have to stop these people from breaking
into these places,” he said.

Wellington police arms officer Ken Heward said putting guns in homes
was no answer to home invasions.

“Firearms create more problems than they solve and police certainly
do not want to see loaded handguns become commonplace,” he said.

There were other ways to get protection.

One inner-city pet shop owner said sales of “aggressive” dog breeds
had gone through the roof.

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–
Dr Sean Gabb | “Over himself, over his own |

E-mail: [email protected] | body and mind, the individual|

<http://www.btinternet.com/~old.whig/> | is sovereign” |

Mobile Number: 0956 472199 | J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 1859 | >>