GUEST BLOG: Bryan Bruce – Mucad Ibrahim was just 3 years old when he reportedly died in his father’s arms during last Friday’s massacre.

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Mucad Ibrahim was just 3 years old when he reportedly died in his father’s arms during last Friday’s massacre.

We let him down.

Mucad’s right to life (and the right to life of all the 49 other innocent victims of Friday’s massacre) vastly supersedes anyone’s “right” to own a semi- automatic weapon.

Yet for almost 3 decades now we have refused to put into law, measures that would have kept last Friday’s victims safe.

29 years ago a mentally ill David Gray of Aramoana did a terrible thing. He shot 12 of his neighbours and the local policeman using a semi-automatic weapon.

I made a documentary about what had led up to that dreadful night in which I researched David’s life and compared it to those of two other mass murders – Martin Bryant (Tasmania) and Thomas Hamilton ( in Scotland)

I did many face -to- face interviews with families in three countries whose mothers , fathers, brothers sisters.. their little sons and daughters had all been shot by killers weilding semi-automatic and/or self-loading weapons.

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I talked with the relatives of the men who had committed those terrible acts

I took many lessons from all those interviews but here’s two I will share tonight.

Firsty I learned that.. Yes people who are often wired wrong sometimes do terrible things ….but we do not have to make it easy for them.

And I will never forget something a policeman in Tasmania said to me.

He had been first officer to enter the Port Arthur restaurant where Martin Bryant murdered 28 of his 35 victims.

“You can’t tackle even a weak prick like Bryant if he’s firing a semi-automatic. If he’d had a bolt action rifle most of those people would probably still be alive today. Somebody would have taken him down while he was reloading.”

Tonight, alongside those who tragically died last Friday, I am remembering with sadness the 13 people of Aramoana whose lives were cut short by semi-automatic gunfire in November of 1990. Especially the lives of the four children who died that day:

Dion Percy aged 5
Leo Wilson aged 6
Jasmine Holden aged 11
Rewa Bryson aged 11

None of these children got to grow up and perhaps have children of their own.

We had a responsibility as a nation to make sure another Aramoana could never happen again , but consecutive governments have given in to the gun lobby with their self- serving plea to not take their semi-automatics away because that would punish many good people because of one bad person.

Well, I repeat….

The right to life – and a peaceful life – is far, far more important than the “right’ to own a semi-automatic firearm.

That’s why I support the Prime Minister’s call for tougher gun laws because it’s what we should have done almost 30 years ago after David Gray’s rampage..

Register all guns. Ban all semi-automatics and self-loading rifles , buy them back and destroy them under an amnesty.

 

Bryan Bruce is one of NZs most respected documentary makers and public intellectuals who has tirelessly exposed NZs neoliberal economic settings as the main cause for social issues.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Well, I repeat….

    ‘The right to life – and a peaceful life – is far, far more important than the “right’ to own a semi-automatic firearm.

    That’s why I support the Prime Minister’s call for tougher gun laws because it’s what we should have done almost 30 years ago after David Gray’s rampage..

    Register all guns. Ban all semi-automatics and self-loading rifles , buy them back and destroy them under an amnesty.”

    I don’t comment on your posts Bryan as I’m usually in total agreement and more words would be superfluous.

    This time, I’m voting. Also added my comment to the growing list on Trade Me demanding an instant stop to gun sales.

  2. Great post.

    NZ is one of the worst for Laissez-faire policy, including gun controls…

    Not only did the fucker massacre so many people in cold blood including innocent children, he also took away from the kids who were trying to protest for a better future on climate change, when they did not have their voice heard because of an extreme act of such violence that will take the politicians short attention spans off issues that while not as immediate and bloody as this unspeakable act, probably will kill and effect a lot more people in the future.

    Like the 9/11 attacks these terrorists or lone wolves want to start a war, us versus them and stop life going on for others. That is their future. And it is not just NZ, not just white supremacists. It’s a lot of groups and they know just where to strike the most fear and loathing into people.

    As a parent, the saddest part is always the innocent kids who bear the brunt of bad decisions and increasingly being targeted.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/11297108/The-worlds-five-worst-terror-attacks-involving-children.html

    The government and commentators need to not just look at gun laws but our Laissez-faire no questions asked visitor and immigration policies here that allowed Tarrant to come to NZ, plan his attack and train here, amass his weapons and then implement his plans.

    The police/spy agencies were so busy spying on domestic targets like Earthquake victims and Nicky Hager that they missed the signs from visitors coming here and buying up weapons. (Just like they miss the drug importers and fraudsters operating here against NZ interests).

    We have a lot of people in the world and now NZ with less opportunities, more competition and a dumbing down of education and science and the arts. It has also created a dysfunctional society where where the go to choice is commerce leading government policy now.

    This is creating stupid and non critical people making poor policy. You see the most impractical policy being implemented every day now not just in NZ but UK, and USA. Even the surveys and committees are hijacked by very fine parameters of what anyone can do or think when they advise the government.

    This has a follow on effect of bad government policy, poor long term thinking, which is creating less opportunity for many people, a dysfunctional society of people who are increasingly not very good thinkers, suffer delusions and a small percentage decide to take it out on other people with mass attacks on public groups or open to recruitment by organised terrorist groups. This is welcomed by neoliberalism.

    We are sitting ducks in NZ, where any fucker of the world can swoop in, commit atrocities and no doubt NZ will spend the next 25 years supporting them, like Tarrant in prison in isolation and ‘rehabilitating’ him as his lawyers advocate on his behalf.. Yes I believe in our justice system, but still irks that his guy will undoubtably receive special treatment and media attention all his life, due to his act.

    Hopefully the government and commentators can get past the ‘white supremacist’ angle to a bit further along, the next guy might believe in another religion or cause… it’s not the cause but why people are increasingly killing so many people that they don’t know and how in NZ we can try to prevent it and create a less dysfunctional society…

    The rise of neoliberalism has seen business interests considered paramount in government. In particular to our education system and schools (the rise of Burger King schools and non critical thinking in education, from a perspective of ‘teachers don’t teach content they teach kids to find content on the Internet’… )

    … welcome then to a world of anti vaccers, white supremacists, nut jobs who believe in anything from the world is flat to Obama is not a US citizen to anyone who is not your religion is the ‘other’.

  3. What state of adult mind was involved with deliberate killing including children.

    Such extreme mental condition I suggest was very unlikely not to be noticed by others in contact with him.

  4. Perhaps one of you would like to inform us who are sceptical about the ability of any changes to the firearm laws to prevent the misuse of firearms; exactly how you propose to track down all these semi-automatic rifles, when NOBODY has any idea who has brought and sold them privately since 1982.

    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Australia

      A bit of reading for you 44 south.

      It’s doable…and more importantly, if such a change can shift the thinking of Australians with some ” 85 to 90% of people wanting the same or greater level of restrictions.” then surely we (arguably more civilised) Kiwis can accept this as a positive step.

      Such weapons give all the power to the terrorist, with little chance between rounds fired for someone to intervene. And prevnt further victims.

      Those hunters who claim they cannot possibly survive without semi- automatics are simply shit shots and should perhaps seek a more suitable hobby.

      • Not only that, Rosemary, but several hunters in the media have poured scorn on the notion of hunters needing semi-automatics to bring down their quarry. It simply is not a hunting weapon.

        Semi-automatics and automatics were designed as military weapons for one thing only: to kill as many humans on the “other side” before theyhad a chance to shoot back.

        In the case of mass shootings in the US, Australia, and here in Aotearoa New Zealand, the human targets were unarmed civilians. They had no chance of shooting back.

        • “Semi-automatics and automatics were designed as military weapons for one thing only: to kill as many humans on the “other side” before they had a chance to shoot back.”

          Yes some were and still are.

          Reliability, weight and accurate range was a downside with many semi autos which led to them not being used by many armies in earlier times of close conflict.

          NZ Army did not adopt an SLR till fairly late.

          The modern sophisticated military SLR derivative is a far cry from a light sporting rifle.

          The glorification of military in films , news and in other ways has made military uniform, weapons and mindset attractive to some sick puppies, including a few who crave power over others.

    • If there is a law change requiring firearms to be registered then my guess is that some will be leaked into the the black market as happened in Australia.

      At the moment there is a black market in NZ which was made much easier by Govt under funding of the firearm registration process leading to sidestepping of responsibility for Police to track individual Firearms.

      Sure many law abiding folk will pass in firearms as required by new laws but some no doubt will not comply completely if they don’t wish to part with a particular type of firearm that have or feel they are not being adequately compensated for the loss.

      A reduction of military type self loading arms in private hands will be a very positive move.

      Some exceptions may be likely in commercial Helicopter pest eradication for example.

      But a change in law will not guarantee removal of any particular class of firearm from being out there and the more restrictive the new law initially then it may be likely that there is a greater change of undesirable firearms entering the black market.

      So some caution as to the best way to manage a change over may mean that it needs to be staged with the first stage having minimum restrictions on existing firearms to get them registered and onto the database.

      Then tracking can be effective with removing the registered arms that are seen as most problematic.

      A strategic approach rather than an overly reactive one may give a better long term solution.

      A balance is needed.

      Any firearm added to the blackmarket is one too many.

  5. You’re going to have to do better than that I’m sorry.
    The linked article clearly states that as of 2014 there are over 200,000 firearms on the black/grey market. Nor is it clear how many of the million destroyed were semi automatics.
    The obsession with semi automatics overlooks the fact that this country has tens of thousands of bolt action Lee Enfield 303s. Google “mad minute” if you don’t understand.
    This entire incident is down to government agency failure to do their job and you want us to put our trust in them and all future governments of god knows what hue.
    Let alone the shitstorm about to fall on our heads as a result of climate chaos!
    Good luck with that.

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