By: Teresa Mull

New Zealand banned the sale of all semi-automatic rifles in the wake of the Christchurch mass shooting last year. But not all Kiwis are willing simply to blithely hand their firearms over to the government.

The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (Colfo) sought a judicial review of the new law in New Zealand’s High Court last week.

The New Zealand Herald reports:

"If central government powers are used to deprive lawful owners of property rights, such owners are entitled to proper compensation for the deprivation of such rights," said the Colfo application for judicial review.

Colfo spokeswoman Nicole McKee said that Police Minister Stuart Nash applied the wrong tests when he decided what ammunition to recommend banning.

"All New Zealanders should be concerned by bans without compensation of legally purchased products. This sets a truly dangerous precedent," McKee said.

"Today it’s ammunition and licenced firearms owners, but if politicians are able to ban things without financial remedy, there’s no telling what’s next."

GPM reported previously that the buyback program wasn’t going well:

Due to a software mishap, the private and allegedly secure information of gun owners participating in New Zealand’s weapons buyback program became accessible to visitors of a government website built for the surrendering of recently illegal weapons.
According to Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement, a weapons dealer alerted the police to the privacy breech after logging into the site and discovering the private information.

What’s more, the gun ban, to no one’s surprise, is not deterring criminals. The Blaze reports:

Gun crime rates and killings involving guns in New Zealand reached their highest level in a decade this year despite the country’s strict gun control measures lauded by left-wing politicians in the United States.

The figures, obtained from police under the Official Information Act by news outlet RNZ, show that gun crime has increased in the country in 2018 and 2019.

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].