reclassification of MSSA

[Cosmik de Bris]

Hi Guys, this has been distributed by the Service Rifle Association so many will have seen it. Just in case you haven't I've attached it below. This will probably affect many of you. There are some photos to clarify but they were too large to post, most of you will know which rifles this applies to.

Cheers.

[Cosmik de Bris]

There has been quite a bit of discussion about this on various fora around the place, as you can imagine. Some people who claim to be in the know are of the view that Joe Green is opposed to this, as are some people higher up in the chain. Many have asked the question, how can this possibly work? I think that when it comes time to implement this policy there will be too many obstacles. Many of these weapons are not registered. Some feel that it will be just a ban on sales of these types of rifles, this will make them very hard to sell if you are already an owner.

Cheers

[Mark Abbott]

So overnight, without doing anything - I'm now a criminal! 

Actually, there's now thousands of new crims out there, has probably done bad things to our legal statistics too 

[El Prez]

The letter states they are considering policy to deal with you.

Don't panic until those words of wisdom are dropped on you.

They don't have the money to buy them all back, they can't just give out E cats like lollies and trying an amnesty will just drive them underground. I wonder what they will come up with?

[Cosmik de Bris]

The latest from COLFO:
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Following the meeting with the Police we can confirm they will not back down from the definition statement made in Superintendent AW McLeod’s letter of June 9th regarding pistol grips and thumbhole stocks.

The Police believe this definition is enforceable under existing legislation, and we understand they have legal advice to this position from Crown Law.
 You can expect that Police will announce further information on this matter very soon.

COLFO is working with the Police to ensure no licensed owner will be criminalized by this of interpretation of meaning and that existing legally held firearms can be retained by current owners. We are lobbying strongly for this, and will take independent advice.

Personally I would like to see e endorsed owners able to transfer the effected firearms to their e endorsement without requirement for surrender and that licensed owners without e endorsement, should be permitted to obtain the endorsement without cost once security requirements are met.

Once we have something definite from Police we will advise you.
 
 
Gary Howat
http://www.colfo.org.nz/
Phone 0272432649
 

[Mark Abbott]

Well, two weeks in and being a SL8 toting criminal sucks, the balaclava's make your face itch, people stare at you as if you're some sort of sub-class, and finding a state house to live in with the 100% financed car on the front lawn underneath the dole-provided sky dish just sucks.

On a more positive note, there have been a few guys in the last week on the other forums who have been able to register their now e-cats without hand ins.

[Cosmik de Bris]

Yes, I'm about to break out my 30 round mags.

[Cosmik de Bris]

The out come of the negotiations may not appeal to some of you however those that in the past have wanted to move these types of firearms onto E now will be able to do this more easily. Please await the full police advertising campain before you do anything. COLFO have worked hard to negate the fiscal impact of this on our members and to this end I think we have been successful. Wehave not been able to roll the clock backwards but appreciate that the Police have agreed to adsorb the major costs of this and provide a reasonable compliance period.. I will be in attendance at this weekends Auckland Gun show if anyone wishes to discuss. Please awit the out come of Police advertisements before doing anything, you have ample time.

Gary Howat Chairman COLFO
1 July 2009
 
For immediate release to members only
 
MSSA Recategorising - Update
 
COLFO has been in discussion with the NZ Police in relation to the new definitions as applied to MSSA’s.  We are now in a position to be able to confirm that the police have decided to go ahead and implement the changes. The police have sort Crown Law advice that indicates that the changes can be legally enacted.
 
From our discussions, COLFO can report that the police are still developing guidelines and that owners of any firearms that will be affected should wait for more detail  when the police launch an information campaign proposed for early August. In the meantime COLFO advises owners not to do anything until the campaign is announced. Indications are that you will have ample time to decide your course of action.
 
COLFO can reveal that the police have agreed that owners of these affected MSSA’s who currently hold an ‘E’ endorsement will be able to obtain a permit to procure to move the firearm over. This will be good news to many of you who have wanted to move the SL8 to ‘E’ category.
 
We can also inform those of you not holding an ‘E’ endorsement that the police have agreed that once the campaign commences you will be able to apply for an ‘E’ endorsement and that the extra fee ($200) normally charged will be waived. COLFO believes that if you already  have one of these firearms on a ‘A’ licence and have sufficient security in place there should be no reason why you would not be considered a fit and proper person to obtain this endorsement.
 
Police have indicated that this offer will commence from the launch of the campaign and will remain in place until 31 March 2010.
 
There will be no buy back, so COLFO suggests that if you do not want to apply for an ‘E’ endorsement then you should look at on selling the firearm(s) to a dealer or an ‘E’ endorsement holder or to a person wanting to obtain an ‘E’ endorsement.
 
If you are planning on applying for the ‘E’ endorsement COLFO strongly recommends that you review your security, and increase it in accordance with the regulations applicable to ‘E’ endorsement. An approved commercial safe to accommodate two ‘E’ category firearms is not a large expense against what you pay for the firearms.
 
Information from members of COLFO is quite differing in content. Some are really keen to move the firearms over to ‘E’ and others do not want to do so. Remember, hunting is just as a legitimate reason for owning a MSSA as is Service Rifle shooting.
 
In the meantime, continue as before, do not panic, and wait for the police to launch their campaign. It will be well publicised throughout the various media such as magazines, newspapers and on the internet. National shooting sports bodies will also be asked to assist with distributing the information out to their branches and members.
 
COLFO will continue to monitor the concerns of our members and will raise these with the police or any other appropriate avenues if considered necessary. We are committed to the firearms community, and have taken independent legal advice on the situation. We believe this is a good outcome for all parties in the current environment.
 
 
Gary Howat
Chairperson

[Mark Abbott]

I already have the application form sitting on my desk, next to the bolts that will ultimately hold my new safe in place, hopefully the system doesn't logjam from all the applications, could take a while to process them all!

[Cosmik de Bris]

This from the Police.

[Cosmik de Bris]

The court case against the police is on at noon today. It seems even bolt action rifles are being caught up in this as well. The person taking the action posted this on his website:

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I have confirmed the details of the bolt-action rifle classified by Police as being a semi-automatic. The Steyr AUG has recently been produced in a straight pull bolt action model; similar to the H&K R8. The New Zealand Police recently inspected one of these bolt action rifles pending import into New Zealand. They classified it as semi-automatic.

Legal definition of a semi-automatic (Arms Act section 2)

"a firearm which, after being loaded, fires, ejects, and chambers a cartridge with each pull of the trigger"

Lawyers for the importers wrote to Police:

"We are puzzled about that view, given that the firearm in question has, by the manufacturer, been made a straight pull bolt action rifle. It does not, therefore, after being loaded, fire, eject and chamber a cartridge with each pull of the trigger."

Inspector Joe Green replied:

"The Police Armourer has demonstrated that all of the working of the semi automatic are retained with the exception of the gas assembly attached to the barrel. By simply replacing the barrel with one with this attached, and which is the original design of the firearm (a very simple process) the firearm is returned to semi automatic. That is, to its original form. This is a non technical explanation Police are happy to expand on."

If you have a firearm that can be converted from a bolt action to a semi-automatic then that firearm is a semi-automatic regardless of whether it's been converted or not?

[Cosmik de Bris]

This just in, no interim injunction but serious issues of law to be looked into.

Justice Mackenzie said "that in his view the Police reinterpretation of the Arms Act is irrelevant and meaningless, that the Police had no statutory power to make a binding interpretation and that any such interpretation was inconsequential."

[JayDee]

Of those with 're-classified' to 'E' - 'A' cat rifles that have applied for a fee waived E endorsement some are finding very restrictive conditions placed both upon the E endorsement and the Permit to Procure.

Like: "For use on Services Range ONLY"

Army range ONLY - Not any 3-gun range!

One who protested this was told to pay the $200 fee instead - and take his chances ... but would probably face the same 'condition'.

Be warry of [Blue] Greeks bearing gifts!

[Matt S]

In order to get the fee wavied for E endorsment do you first have to have the type of firearm the Police are wanting to change in your possesion or can you apply and still not have to pay the $200.00 fee? 

[McLovin]

RE: Bolt action/semi auto AUG's.

Presumably, a semi auto gas assembly would be considered an E-cat part anyway right? So only the people with the right license would be able to purchase one? So how is the gas assembly relevant? I would have thought the law would be based on the current configuration of a rifle, and if you illegally modify it, on your head be it. I mean, do we stop people buying cars that could be race modified and used for boy racing? No, so how can you class a rifle on what it might be capable of with additional parts. Also, the "a-cat AK's" and their various derivatives could usually accept high capacity magazines (Which for some weird reason don't need a license to be purchased???), instantly converting them to E-cat. did we ban those? No. But now thanks to certain A%$holes who have made the news recently and spooked the general public we have to change all the rules for the people who have legally obtained firearms for sporting purposes. Seems futile to punish the people who do go through the proper channels.

The next logical step in banning bolt actions that could be made semi auto is banning semi autos that could be made full auto. Where is the cut off point?

I'm not entirely convinced that we need a bolt action AUG for hunting or sporting purposes as I personally think there would be much better bolt action rifles with much better accuracy and other statistics, however I do NOT support the police interpretation of a bolt action rifle being classified as "semi-auto", it's just not logical.