Socialist New Zealand PM Says No to Guns for Business By Bruce Bennett (Former Kiwi)
People outside of New Zealand, and those who are outside like me, but seek out the news from back home, may not be aware that there is a massive crime problem that is disturbing business, so much so that some business leaders are saying that they need guns. Next to abortion, making sure that only the oppressive state apparatus has guns, while everyone else are subjects, is the raison d'être of the left. The violence includes including ram raids by youth offenders, gang violence and shootings, and stabbings. “Firearms are not the answer; firearms are not the answer,” Ardern said. “They will never be the answer. We don’t want to see people put themselves at risk.” Wow, she said it twice, so she must be serious. All said by a feminist protected by men with the guns she bans, just like her comrades in the US. It was Biden who said to her that the US needs to learn gun banning from her. It is a disgusting world today; what would King Leonidas (died 19 September 480 BC), or even later adventurers such as Gustavus Von Tempsky (1828-1868) think of this? No surprises there.
“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said arming business owners is not the answer to the recent spate of crimes the small island nation is currently experiencing, including ram raids by youth offenders, gang violence and shootings, and stabbings.
Dairy and Business Association Chair Sunny Kaushal said the government needed to acknowledge how serious the situation had become.
“A sense of lawlessness is now gripping all of New Zealand, and the soft on crime approach is not working,” he told Newshub.
“We are calling the prime minister to declare a crime emergency in New Zealand. It is that serious.”
Kaushal said many small businesses were hiring their own security, with many going to him for advice on how to get a gun.
“It’s become that serious because if the police and authorities are not able to save them, they have to save themselves,” he said.
Ardern responded to his comments, saying that she understood the concern existed but that arming business was “not the answer.”
“Firearms are not the answer; firearms are not the answer,” Ardern said. “They will never be the answer. We don’t want to see people put themselves at risk.”
The opposition party has repeatedly called the government too “soft” on crime.
National Party’s police spokesman Mark Mitchell said he believes that the police pursuit policy change in 2020, where pursuing fleeing vehicles is only justified when the threat of the person fleeing “outweighs the risk of harm created by the pursuit,” was one of the issues behind the rising crime rates.
“The police need to urgently review their pursuit policy—since the change in policy, 83 percent of fleeing drivers are not getting arrested. Young offenders have realised they can steal a car or flee the scene of a crime without the risk of being pursued or stopped by the police,” he said in May.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has since indicated that the 2020 changes to pursuit policy were currently under review.
Minister of Police Poto Williams also noted that the Labour government had increased policy funding by 35 percent since 2017, with further funding included in this year’s budget.
Under the 2022 budget, the government has made it a priority to increase the number of frontline police.
Further, while in line with the government’s policy of being “tough of crime,” a programme focusing on the causes of child and youth offenders will be undertaken.
“And police are increasing the focus on the unlawful behaviour of gang members through a nation-wide operation (Cobalt), which will see police districts focus specifically on suppressing and disrupting gangs,” Williams told The Epoch Times.
“I know police are working diligently to combat criminal activities so our communities are safe and feel safe, and have recently made a number of arrests and charges and seized a number of firearms.”
Despite the record investment, New Zealand is currently experiencing a wave of crime that has led to increasingly louder calls for action.
To protect small businesses from the spate of ram raids that have occurred over several months, the government announced in late May $6 million in funding that will go towards measures including installing bollards or other protective structures.
Mitchell said the announcement had been “too little, too late” in addressing the “explosion” of youth crime in New Zealand.
“Until this Labour government cracks down on crime, youth offenders, gang members, and organised crime groups will continue to behave and act with impunity,” he said.
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