Citizens Disobey New Zealand Gun Ban, Only 530 of 300,000 People Turned Guns In

RP from QRes#8549

After New Zealand banned people from having guns in reaction to the terrible shooting in March, almost everyone is refusing to obey the law.

In March, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the “first tranche” in a number of moves to restrict the rights of New Zealand citizens to protect themselves with firearms. This move was in direct response to the horrific murders that unfolded on March 15. Coincidentally, this is the exact move the terrorist who carried out these attacks had hoped for and predicted. The good news is, however, that most citizens are refusing to turn in their guns.

The terrorist who murdered 50 people earlier this year was engaging in a classic propaganda of the deed in which he predicted—accurately—that his murder would spark the restriction of gun rights. Lawmakers took his bait.

“On 15 March, our history changed forever. Now, our laws will too,” said Ardern as she carried out the will of this terrorist. “We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place.”

“What we’re banning today are the things used in last Friday’s attack,” she said, adding: “It’s about all of us, it’s in the national interest and it’s about safety.”

According to a new report from the NZ Herald, however, the citizens feel “safer” by holding on to their guns.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/after-new-zealand-banned-guns-only-530-of-300000-people-turned-them-in/

New Zealand man who shared Christchurch mosque massacre video sentenced to prison

RP from QRes#8674

A New Zealand man who shared a video of the Christchurch mosque massacre was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Tuesday.

Philip Arps, 44, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the livestream video of the mass shooting, in which a gunman filmed himself on Facebook killing 51 people at two mosques in March.

Arps, a businessman, allegedly described the video as "awesome," according to Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O'Driscoll. The judge said Arps had strong and unrepentant views about the Muslim community and committed a hate crime.

"Your offending glorifies and encourages the mass murder carried out under the pretext of religious and racial hatred," the judge said, noting that Arps had compared himself to Rudolf Hess, a Nazi leader under Adolf Hitler.

Arps sent the video of the massacre to around 30 associates, the judge said. He added that Arps also asked somebody to insert crosshairs and include a kill count in order to create an internet meme, although there was no evidence he'd shared the meme.

Arps faced up to 14 years imprisonment on each count, according to New Zealand laws designed to prevent people from sharing objectionable material.

The 44-year-old apparently argued he had a right to distribute the video under the banner of freedom to pursue his political beliefs. His lawyer, Anselm Williams, said Arps shouldn't be sent to prison, and that he filed an appeal against his sentence.

"It's my submission that this court needs to be very careful to sentence Mr. Arps based on what it is that he has actually done, and what he accepts he has done, not on the basis of the views that he holds," Williams said.

Arps is one of six people who have been charged with illegally sharing the livestream of the mass shooting. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was quick to jump to action following the attacks, announcing a week later the country was immediately banning "military-style semi-automatic weapons."

The prime minister is also helping lead a global pledge title "Christchurch Call" to help keep internet platforms from being used to spread hate, organize extremist groups and broadcast attacks.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, pleaded not guilty last week to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism in the mosque shooting case. His trial has been scheduled for next May.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/sharer-of-new-zealand-mosque-shooting-video-gets-21-months

The creeping corruption of official New Zealand

June 24, 2019

These are just a handful of the sorts of episodes, great and small, that go on in New Zealand – a country that likes to claim high standards of governance and accountability in public life. They take different forms. Already, the Shane Jones/Semenoff affair recedes into memory. Police simply flout the law. Or what of a statistics agency run so poorly that even the Census was botched, and yet no one loses their job? And so we could go on. If we don’t start sweating the “small stuff” again, or simply get used to a ‘near enough is good enough”, or “never mind, decent individuals” standard, we’ll lose any traction in clinging onto the sort of standards a decent and open society should be insisting on from those who hold public office. Good – honest, open, rigorous, accountable – government is a rare and valuable thing. Degraded government – and we risk slipping down exactly that path – is a serious threat to the sort of standards New Zealanders once held dear.

Then again, what to expect in a country where the major Opposition party has a former PRC military intelligence official, close to the PRC embassy, (formerly?) a CCP member, sitting in its caucus, while its president sings the praises of Xi Jinping? And the governing parties seem quite unbothered by any of that, having sold any soul they once had when it comes to anything to do with the regime in Beijing (in fact, this very week, the deputy leader of the Labour Party is in China aiming “to deepen…our relationship with China”.) Xinjiang? Hong Kong extradition laws? Forced organ extractions? South China Sea? Systematic persecution of religious believers of all stripes? Systematic repression of any dissenters? Abduction of Canadian citizens? Never mind, nothing to do with us, seems to be the combined National and Labour line.

https://croakingcassandra.com/2019/06/24/the-creeping-corruption-of-official-new-zealand/