Mark Ron: Arms Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
Mark Ron: Arms Amendment Bill (No 3) — First Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:19785] 
RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted by the dinner break this legislation is absolutely pointless. It is needless. It will take up select committee time which is unnecessary. It will take the time of the House which is unnecessary to make law changes that are unnecessary which will bring upon and inflict upon people who legitimately go about their business of selling firearms unnecessary compliance costs in terms of keeping registers. Of all things it seeks to try to account for every last bullet or round imported into New Zealand—members should think about it—that is every last .177 slug from an air rifle and every last .22 round from a 22-calibre rifle. 
What is the point? The point is that this politically correct Government wants to sign up to a United Nations convention that has 23-odd signatories from Third World punter countries that are the least likely to apply firearms legislation effectively that are most likely to employ mercenaries and that are most likely to trade illicitly in arms—to sign up a country New Zealand about which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade came to the select committee and said no problems existed. The real problem that this bill should be focusing on is what is currently happening with our ineffectual laws in the hands of some of our ineffectual judges. If this bill went some way to templating law to require judges to lock people up for a 5 years’ minimum sentence for commissioning a crime with a firearm then it would be a good thing. That is New Zealand First’s policy. 
So why add more laws when this country is not enforcing the firearms laws that exist? I will give some examples. A person who pointed a firearm at another person and threatened to shoot during a gang confrontation got—what? The person got neither a $4000 or $5000 fine nor 4 years’ imprisonment—which is actually what is available—but 6 months’ jail. 
Pita Paraone 
: What? 
RON MARK 
: Six months’ jail! Do members want another example? Here is another one: a person was arrested after a firearm was allegedly pointed at a police officer on the outskirts of Hamilton during a pursuit. What did the person get? Well as for some others of those people it was such a thing as community service. Other cases concerned aggravated robbery with a firearm committing a crime with a firearm and unlawfully possessing a firearm. One person who recklessly discharged a firearm to steal $120-worth of cash and $200-worth of cigarettes was ordered to do a family group conference. 
What is the point of passing laws if this Government does not enforce the ones that exist? We do not need new laws that tie us into funny little United Nations committees’ agreements. After all it was this Government on the foreshore and seabed legislation that told a poky little committee at the United Nations to butt out of New Zealand’s business. Well this Government should do the same on this matter. We do not need to be signing up to an illicit protocol on trafficking in small arms and their bits and pieces with a bunch of Third World punters in order to placate them and make ourselves feel good; we can tell them to buzz off just as the Deputy Prime Minister did to that little United Nations committee that dared to criticise our sovereign right to make the decisions on the foreshore and seabed legislation that we did. 
New Zealand First opposes this legislation because we say that it is unnecessary. We can see that it will impose unnecessary compliance costs on firearms dealers and on legitimate firearms owners but in relation to the laws we really need to tighten up on the things we really need to tighten up on firmly are the judges who do not apply the law as it stands but who dish out the penalties they currently dish out to people who are stealing firearms illegally owning them and using them to commit crimes. That is what we should be focusing on—nothing else. There should be a 5-year minimum jail sentence for anyone commissioning a crime with a firearm and then we would see an even further reduction in the very low rate of offending with firearms that we have in our country of New Zealand. 
The firearms owners of New Zealand should be applauded; they are good law-abiding citizens. What they do not need is more useless legislation that simply adds compliance requirements on to them. We should let them get on and enjoy their sport so let us let this legislation fall off the table—as the last bill did.