Gangs and Guns: Is a Blanket Firearms Ban on Gangs Justified?
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Gangs and Guns: Is a Blanket Firearms Ban on Gangs Justified? Anne Lim A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) at the University of Otago --- Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo. 6 October 2017. Acknowledgements A big thank you to: My supervisor, Professor Margaret Briggs, for your guidance with what seemed like an insurmountable task. Your swift and patient e-mail replies to my panicked ramblings and willingness to help in every way possible have made this dissertation-writing experience an extremely enjoyable one. Mum and Dad, for supporting my endeavours and reading drafts of this dissertation at 5 am from the other side of the world; my siblings Li Shawn and Eugene, for catering to my whims and demands for food, shelter, and pleasantries during the university breaks. The LAWS101 tutors, for the camaraderie and procrastination chit-chat. Working with you all has been an absolute pleasure. Amy Corkery, for your excellent proofreading skills and unwavering support. Your kind words and sunny disposition never fail to make me smile. Alice Tiffany, Jared Papps, Kalyani Dixit, and Veronica MacKenzie, for being by my side as we tackled the Law school giant and indulged in a similar kind of macabre humour together. Thank you for the late-night food trips and the even later conversations in the wee hours of the morning. Owen Wilkinson, Kade Cory-Wright, and Taotao Li, for providing the (occasional) token of wisdom and sage words of advice during difficult times. Finally, to Elliot Brownlee, Matthew Brunton, Roshana Ching, Finn Robinson, and Jonny Iremonger, for the laugh-out-loud moments that I can forever appreciate and roll my eyes at. Thank you for being absolute delights. All errors and omissions remain my own. 2 Table of Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER I: Gangs, Guns, and the New Zealand Agenda ................................................. 9 I Guns ................................................................................................................................. 9 A A Context-Dependent Gun Culture ................................................................................. 9 B A Brief History of New Zealand’s Firearms Laws ....................................................... 10 II Gangs and the New Zealand Agenda ............................................................................ 13 A “What’s in a Name…” ................................................................................................... 13 B The New Zealand Agenda ............................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER II: “Fit and Proper” .......................................................................................... 18 I Legislative Guidance ..................................................................................................... 18 A The Arms Act 1983 ....................................................................................................... 18 B The New Zealand Police Arms Manual 2002 ............................................................... 18 C The Right to Appeal ...................................................................................................... 20 II Case Law ....................................................................................................................... 20 A Fewtrell v Police ............................................................................................................ 20 B Mallasch v Police .......................................................................................................... 21 C Innes v New Zealand Police .......................................................................................... 22 D Jenner v Police .............................................................................................................. 23 III Tying the Strings Together ............................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER III: Critically Examining the Blanket Firearms Ban ..................................... 26 I Issues in Principle ......................................................................................................... 26 A The New Zealand Bill of Rights 1990 ........................................................................... 26 1 Section 14: Freedom of Expression ....................................................................... 26 2 Section 17: Freedom of Association ...................................................................... 28 B Pre-Emptive Criminalisation ......................................................................................... 32 II Issues in Policy ............................................................................................................. 35 A The Licensing Process ................................................................................................... 35 B A Reach Too Far: Difficulties in Identifying Gang Members, Prospects, and the Problem of Mistaken Prosecutions ....................................................................................... 36 C Entrenching a More Committed Gang Membership Base ............................................ 38 III Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER IV: Alternatives to the Blanket Firearms Ban ................................................ 40 I Firearms Laws in Foreign Jurisdictions ........................................................................ 40 3 A Choosing the Appropriate Foreign Jurisdictions for Comparative Purposes ................ 40 B Australia and the United Kingdom’s Three-Limbed Test: A Holy Tripartite ............... 41 II Public Interest: A Separation From the “Fit and Proper” Test ...................................... 41 A Australia ........................................................................................................................ 41 1 Adams v Commissioner of Police .......................................................................... 42 B United Kingdom .................................................................................................... 44 1 Dabek v Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall ................................................ 44 C “To Be, or Not to Be”: Separation is the Question ........................................................ 44 III Public Interest: Applying a Principled Framework ....................................................... 45 A Australia ........................................................................................................................ 45 1 Azzopardi v Commissioner of Police ..................................................................... 45 2 CSC v Commissioner of Police .............................................................................. 46 B United Kingdom ............................................................................................................ 46 1 Spencer-Stewart v Chief Constable of Kent .......................................................... 47 C Moulding the “Public Interest” Test to Suit the New Zealand Context ........................ 47 IV “Good Reason” or “Genuine Need”: Complementing Public Interest and the “Fit and Proper” Test.......................................................................................................................... 48 A Australia ........................................................................................................................ 48 1 Anderson v Commissioner of Police ...................................................................... 48 B United Kingdom ............................................................................................................ 49 C “Good Reason” or “Genuine Need” in New Zealand ................................................... 49 IV “Fit and Proper”: Codification ....................................................................................... 50 V Updating the New Zealand Police Arms Manual 2002 ................................................. 51 VI Alternatives to the Blanket Firearms Ban: A Summary ................................................ 52 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 53 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 67 4 “While gangs are formed due to unfortunate social and economic conditions, they are enabled by our freedom to associate and freedom of expression. Lawmakers must be mindful of chipping away at the latter due to an inability or unwillingness to tackle the former.”1 “What is the attraction of gangs? …Whether riding in a pack of an outlaw club, or walking into a public place with members of a patched street gang, one cannot help but appreciate the sense of power that exists within these groups, knowing each member has the other’s back…unless other options exist to achieve status and social fulfilment, gangs will endure.”2 1 Jarrod Gilbert Patched: The History of Gangs