Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
I don't get why anyone would see a need to restrict access to air rifles or paintball markers.
A few people have been killed or wounded with air rifles in NZ in recent years (accidents).

(Paintball) toys look so indistinguishable from the real thing that an increasing number of crims are using them. A cop shooting a thus 'armed' crim is in kakstreet.

The rimfire rifles thing is also strange. It's quite easily possible to create a powerful rimfire cartridge rifle - especially with reloading and DIY bullets.
Most of the classifications and restrictions are irrational knee jerks IMO. They satisfy the 'something must be done' syndrome. The silliest one being the restriction of meggaclippythingies. Will a nutcase on a shooting spree really be measurably disadvantaged with a smaller capacity, given that no one is shooting back? How long does it take to slap a new mag on? Context dependent (the theatre shooting might be an exception), I could argue that the nutcase could be in a disadvantage if he had a full auto with 30 rnd mags. He would waste most of the rounds. Being limited to 7 rnd mags might make him conscious of the necessity to conserve and aim. But again, a reload is often only a disadvantage when rounds are going in two directions.

That grossly outdated (you can tell I’m not a yank) second amendment is IMO the greatest impediment to more rational control, as much as it is a safeguard against excessive control. Instead of enforcing security checks for each purchase, a licensing system should be introduced.

In NZ, the screening and security checks happen at licencing stage. Specific endorsements are required for collectibles, pistols, and MSSE (Military Style Semi Auto; our police were wise enough not to call them assault rifles. They get some things right.) The single biggest measure of control that the authorities have on MSSEs is that for every one imported, an old one has to be surrendered. A quantitative alternative to the grandfathering-in principle.

We have however had the same silliness with regards to ways of circumventing the definition of MSSE as in many other countries. A thumbhole stock does not require an MSSE endorsement, as long as you restrict the mag to 7 rnds and comply with other cosmetic trivialities like no muzzle flash eliminator or bayonet lug. The police recently tried to tighten up on that and cut their own fingers. The court decided that the police could not redefine what constitutes a pistol grip at their leisure. So now we have gone a step back, in a sense, because now an 'aftermarket ergonomic pistol grip' is allowed on non-MSSEs. When I first discovered this, I spoke to an arms-officer to confirm. The first thing he said was: “Yes, we do stupid things”. AR15s are now streaming into the country at an alarming rate of knots. We will pay a price for that in more that one way.