Gun related crimes are becoming an everyday occurrence in NZ
There’s been another fatal shooting, this time outside of Papakura railway station in the early hours of this morning.
The incident, in which a 26 year old man was killed and a 27 year old man was critically injured, caused disruption for morning commuters.
Police have taken a 28 year old man into custody and begun a murder investigation. The man will appear in court on Monday.
Gun cache seized during drug raid
There are an estimated 1.1 million firearms in circulation in New Zealand (population 4.4 million). Police don’t know the exact number because not a single one has to be licenced – just the owners.
Yesterday police seized an arsenal of firearms including military assault rifles during raids on a crystal meth operation in South Auckland.
Officers on Thursday arrested a 37-year-old man after finding what they say was $500,000 worth of methamphetamine and $150,000 in cash at his apartment, and a secret room with a meth lab and two firearms at a “heavily-fortified” Takanini warehouse. A search of a nearby house found 14 guns, including AK47s and M16s, with some hidden in the ceiling, Detective Senior Sergeant Lloyd Schmid said.
“The fact that we’ve found such an elaborate meth set-up, as well as so many guns, will have organised crime at its roots.” … The haul , and the recent shooting of four police officers in Kawerau, prompted Labour’s police spokesperson, Stuart Nash, to call for an independent inquiry into the availability of guns.
“In the 2011-12 year there were 1010 guns confiscated. That rose to 1504 in the 2014-15 year. We need to know what is driving this behaviour,” he said. source
There is no suggestion that today’s shooting (also in South Auckland) was linked to the arms cache find, nor the armed siege earlier this week in which four police officers were shot in a drugs raid in Kawerau.
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Ashburton WINZ shooter found guilty: “Socially isolated murderer”
The Kawerau siege happened on the same day that Russell Tully was found guilty for the shooting murders of two female staff at the Ashburton WINZ offices last year. On September 1st 2015, 48 year old Russel Tully walked into a government office and shot two workers to death and seriously injured a third. The deceased were Peg Noble and Leigh Cleveland, Lindy Curtis was seriously wounded.
Other incidents this year include
Children Caught Up in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – Only it’s in Kennedy Bay, Coromandel
Shots Fired At Auckland Police, Rapes and Murders. Is Crime out of Control in NZ?
Armed Police on Streets of Lower Hutt
Armed Standoff in Gloria Rd, Te Atatu, Auckland. Woman’s Body found in House – Botched Burglary
Not Such Happy Days, Another Gunpoint Robbery at a Buffet Restaurant
Violent New Zealand – Three People Injured in Park Shoot-Out
Another Armed Offenders Call Out In Auckland
E2NZ.org 
Related to “gun crime”:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/man-lost-eye-in-hunting-incident-says-charges-against-shooter-dropped-due-police-budget-restraints
Man who lost eye in hunting incident says charges against shooter dropped due to police budget restraints
Fri, May 19 2017
Today a charge of reckless use of a firearm causing injury against the man, who has interim name suppression, was dropped.
Jim Morton told 1 NEWS today that the past year has been tough for him and his wife Jenny.
He has a glass eye and the pellet from the bullet is lodged just millimeters from his brain.
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He has been unable to work for 11 months and struggles with balance.
He recently broke his ankle after falling over.
“The number of operations I’ve had, I’ve had a lot of work… co-ordination, lots of physio, lots of eye specialists.”
The Crown told the court it was given an expert report that was reviewed by ERS, and that it didn’t meet evidence threshholds for prosecution to continue.
But Mr Morton thinks the reason charges were dropped comes down to funding.
1 NEWS has obtained a recording of a meeting between Jim Morton and police prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk.
Mr Vanderkolk said in the recording that there is no money in the police budget to retain an expert, stating police have a limited budget and much of the ESR budget has been used on homicides in the central region.
I’m getting a lesson from this:
Commit a crime that is too expensive to solve, and the police will lose interest in it, they are only after “low-hanging fruit” … the hidden reality of a justice system that relies on fixed budgets.
So that is why “going hunting” is so popular in NZ. Such a good way to give someone life-changing injuries without getting any jail time …
[Deleted. Don’t troll.]
[Deleted. Don’t troll.]