>>5774683 lb

Suspicious Packages in the news…

This comes one day after another suspicious package was removed from Broadview station, which closed the area for more than four hours Monday morning.

Kamal Badri, 53, of no fixed address, was wanted in connection with Monday’s incident and he was arrested Tuesday morning.

Police said Badri was arrested roughly one hour before officers found the package Tuesday.

Badri was charged with two counts of mischief interfering with property over, two counts of public mischief, two counts of failing to comply an undertaking given to a justice, failing to re-attend court and uttering threats.

He is scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/03/19/broadview-station-closed-for-a-second-straight-day-after-another-suspicious-package-found.html

Both of us grew up with fathers who shot guns and taught us basic firearm safety. The desire also stems the recent life-changing experiences of emergency survival situations during the Christchurch earthquakes (a whole other story) and partially out of curiosity about New Zealand gun culture.

You might be surprised to find out that New Zealand is not unfamiliar with gun violence. In 1990, a 33 year old mentally unstable man in Aramoana, NZ shot and killed thirteen people including a police officer using a semi-automatic rifle. (The events have been dramatized in the New Zealand film Out of the Blue)

But unlike shootings in the US, the incident directly resulted in changes to New Zealand firearms laws. A special category of “Military Style Semi-Automatic” weapons was created; the sales and ownership of which are now severely restricted. Purchase or import of military style semi-automatics and all handguns must be individually approved by, and registered with, the New Zealand police.

firearms gun sales range

The author’s partner at a gun store in Las Vegas. Obtaining powerful firearms legally is easier in the US than almost any other country. (Photo by Brian Norton)

Without a valid and current firearms license, you cannot legally purchase any firearm other than a pellet gun anywhere in New Zealand. There is probably a black market or some other means of acquiring a firearm illegally, but firearms recovered from drug busts or other organised criminal activities typically amount to hunting rifles or pump action shot guns. Handguns and military style semi-automatics are rare, difficult to obtain, and very expensive.

So how do Kiwis go about getting their hands on guns?

The process for obtaining a basic firearms license is long, complicated and expensive. In other words, designed to weed out a broad portion of the population that the law deems unsuitable to possess a firearm.

After submitting your application to the NZ Police, you are signed up for a mandatory firearm safety course put on by the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council. The course runs about three hours. Experienced instructors offer advice covering the handling, operation and storage of firearms. It ends with a written exam. If you fail the exam, you must go back to the police station to register for the next available class, with no exceptions.

If you pass, your results are reported back to the NZ Police Arms Officer in preparation for the next step, the interview.

http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2012/08/06/getting-strapped-in-new-zealand-shooting/5740