New Zealand’s post-Christchurch gun ban is in effect and the country has witnessed about 700 rifles being handed over at this point.
On June 23, Breitbart News reported that New Zealand gun owners were outraged that their government was refusing to pay full price for the guns at the center of a forced buyback.
On March 20–five days after the attacks in Christchurch–New Zealanders were told a forced buyback of “military style” semiautomatic rifles would soon be introduced. On April 1, the actual language of the buyback became public and revealed that pump shotguns accepting detachable magazines were also being recalled, as were pump shotguns with tubular magazines that held more than five rounds. Also, any magazines with a capacity greater than ten rounds were banned and included in the recall as well.
On June 20, New Zealand police posted an announcement making clear the most that would be paid for any firearm is 95 percent of what the gun was worth before the ban took effect. And the 95 percent buyback reimbursement only applies to guns in like-new condition. If the firearm is categorized as “used,” the highest reimbursement possible is 70 percent of the firearm’s value.
Then came June 30, a date by which the Washington Post reported that only “about 700 firearms had been voluntarily surrendered.”
Some gun owners are holding out in hopes that court action will strike the ban down before the amnesty period ends on December 20. Others are already looking to what they might do if legal action fails.
New Zealand Ammunition owner Paul Clark said if an appeal to the courts fail then “the only alternative is revolution.”
When Radio New Zealand’s Lisa Owen asked Clark to elaborate on what he meant by the word “revolution,” he responded, “Literally, what I just said.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.