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Frank Vallich

A new bill would establish something called a “Firearms Prohibition Order”, which not only makes it illegal for a person subjected to one of the orders to possess a firearm, but makes it a crime to be around one as well. At a recent public hearing on that bill and other changes to the country’s gun laws, a legislative committee heard from a number of New Zealanders who voiced their opposition to the proposal. “The Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom said the new legislation was being rushed, was ill thought out and racist in its intent. Spokesperson Louise Hutchinson said firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would impinge on Māori customary rights, which she said were protected under the Treaty of Waitangi 1840, the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand 1835, Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 and the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights. She said it allowed for Māori to gather as iwi, hapū or whānau at any given time, and brought into question what happened if someone under a prohibition order was mixing with family members with a legitimate firearm. 'Excluding a person under an FPO from engaging with his or her whānau or extended whānau is a blatant breach of Māori customary rights and indeed human rights.'” What’s fascinating about this is that the Waikato Mongrel Mob Kingdom is a chapter of the largest gang in the country, though its spokesperson says the local chapter has struck out on its own and is trying to be a force for good these days. Still, it’s likely that some of its members would be targeted with Firearms Prohibition Orders, and that could restrict their freedom of association (which IS a right in New Zealand, unlike the right to keep and bear arms)...