There are more than 1.1 million guns in circulation in NZ and none of them are registered.

Today is a public holiday in New Zealand, it’s the country’s national day – the day when they celebrate their birth as a nation with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Unfortunately, this time is often marred by violence. Presently, there is an armed stand-off in the quiet area of Kennedy Bay, Coromandel. The Harataunga Marae, packed with young children, went into lockdown and the main road closed after shots were fired this morning.

A Kennedy Bay resident said there was an armed standoff in the Kennedy Bay area, and the roads had been locked down.

The man, who did not want to be named, said he had heard there were four men taking “pot shots” at each other.  He said the men appeared to range in age from their 20s to their mid 40s. “I’ve seen two Westpac helicopters flying over the area, and it looks like police have called the armed offenders squad in to help, too.”

There were reports two people had been arrested. The resident said people were being kept safe at the Harataunga Marae, where a number of people had stayed over the long weekend. Several roads had been cordoned off in the area, he said…

A Kennedy Bay Rd resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was not surprised there had been a stand off.

“Living over here you get to know what’s what,” she said. “It’s not a bad place, but every place has their bad eggs.” source

Every place in New Zealand may have their “bad eggs” but do they have to run around shooting at each other? Moreover, why does the country promote itself as safe with a low crime rate, when in reality its crime problem is out of control and police have no idea how many guns are in circulation in the country.

A woman at the marae, who did not wish to be named, said she heard several gun shots and said there were people running around with guns on the main street.

She said there were a lot of children at the marae this weekend and they were all very scared.

An elder at Harataunga Marae said police had been “running everywhere” in the past hour.

“I didn’t see or hear anything but we’ve been told to sit tight.”… about 20 people – mostly children -were at the marae, the elder said”  source

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