FIREFIGHT INDUSTRIES REPORT FOR THE NEW ZEALAND HUNTERS GROUP LIMITED Martin Spencer Bath (GUNSMITH AND PROFESSIONAL ARMOURER) My full name is Martin Spencer Bath. I live in Auckland and I have been involved with firearms for over 32 years. I am a licenced film and television armourer and firearms designer and manufacturer. I am a licenced firearms dealer and licenced to manufacture firearms. I specialise in the adaptation and designing of firearms for the movie industry, both locally and internationally. I have been involved in supplying most working firearms to many of New Zealand’s major film and television programmes. I have supplied firearms to film productions overseas and been involved in the import and export of military firearms. I trained and qualified as a toolmaker, specialising in precision engineering in the aircraft industry and firearm training equipment. I run my own business working as a gunsmith and theatrical armourer. I have a wide knowledge of all types of firearm design, form and function, metallurgy, and ammunition and ballistics. I am an experienced competition shooter in rifle, pistol and shotgun. I am qualified range officer with national qualifications in Pistol Shooting, ISSF and IPSIC, Practical Shotgun and Service Rifle. I am the President of the International Military Arms Society, a Life Member of the Royal New Zealand Navy Pistol Club and a founding member of the Theatrical Armourers Guild. I keep up to date with aspects of firearms development, both nationally and internationally. I have read the High Court Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses and agree to comply with it. I have been asked to give my opinion on the New Zealand Police policy on ‘Measuring the Length of Military Style Semi Automatic Firearms (MSSAs)’, specifically the police belief that the recently imported Military Style Semi Automatic rifle ‘CZ Scorpion Evo’ is a pistol. This is due to their belief it is less than 762mm in length when the stock is folded and parts such as the flash suppressor are removed from the barrel. 1 FIREFIGHT INDUSTRIES I have included a copy of the New Zealand Policy labelled ‘Firearm Evaluation: Classification & Approval’ taken from the New Zealand Police website. For the purpose of this report, Military Style Semi Automatic Firearms will be noted as MSSA firearms. The Scorpion Evo at the centre of this report is just one of thousands of MSSA rifles in New Zealand that have been recently affected by the New Zealand Police’s new policy on measuring firearms. The Firearm Evaluation: Classification & Approval policy will not only affect the importation of this Scorpion Evo, but also affect thousands of licenced firearm owners in New Zealand who already own and enjoy MSSA firearms. INTRODUCTION The Firearm Evaluation: Classification & Approval policy is a new policy. The New Zealand Police have now, 34 years since the Arms Act 1983 was passed, and the 1992 Arms Amendments Act, to re-define what a pistol is by adding “it could be” to the definition. In this report I will discuss if there is anything that makes the Scorpion Evo different from other firearms already present in New Zealand. I will discuss what a Military Style Semi-Automatic Firearm (MSSA) actually is, what features this firearm has and how those features have come to define a MSSA. I will also discuss what I believe was the way parliament intended MSSA firearms to be measured. I will be discussing some of the defining features of an MSSA firearm set out in the Arms Act 1983, in particular the folding or retractable stock and flash suppressor. I will also discuss the New Zealand Police’s new policy on removing parts such as the flash suppressor or any other muzzle device to get the MSSA firearm to the smallest possible size before measuring its overall length. I will be showing firearms that are not affected by this policy but that can be readily converted to a pistol as easily as one can remove a flash suppressor. History of Military Style Semi Automatic Firearms (MSSAs) To fully understand what category a CZ Scorpion Evo rifle should be classed as, one must first understand what a MSSA firearm is, the Arms Amendment Act 1992, and why a MSSA category was introduced to Arms Act 1983. The original Arms Act 1983 provided for lifetime licences that could be issued to persons over 16 years of age who were considered by police to be “fit and proper” to be in possession of a firearm. This also included the firearms that we know today as Military Style Semi Automatics. 2 FIREFIGHT INDUSTRIES The change to the Arms Act in 1992 came about after an incident that occurred on 13 November 1990, when David Gray killed 13 people in the small township of Aramoana with a Squires and Bingham .22-calibre semi-automatic sporting rifle and a Norinco 84S 5.56mm semi automatic rifle. This became known as the Aramoana massacre and sparked lengthy debate about gun control in New Zealand. The government was led to believe that David Gray had shot all his victims with an AK-47 7.62×39mm assault rifle. Although this was not the case it led to a change in the Arms Act 1983. The Government focus was on ownership of AK47-type rifles or so called ‘assault rifles’. The government came up with a clear definition of what a Military Style Semi Automatic was, based on a number of features that military rifles had. The first feature they defined was a folding stock. It is of vital importance to note that a folding stock AK47 is less than 762mm long when the stock is folded. This is the very firearm the government and public at the time were focused on during the writing the Arms Amendment Act 1992. The government at the time had many submissions on these types of firearms and were well aware that folding stocks would reduce the size of AK47-type firearms. Despite this, a folding stock is the first feature listed as defining an AK47-type firearm as an MSSA. It is also no accident that the same level of control was placed on the ownership of MSSA’s as had existed for Pistols and Restricted Weapons. It is clear that MSSA’s are their own distinctive type of firearm, defined by the existence of the features they possess. Military Style Semi Automatic Firearms (MSSAs) The term MSSA refers to a semi automatic firearm, which can be either be a rifle or a shotgun. This is a firearm that is defined in the Arms Act 1983 and Arms Amendment Act 1992 as having one of a number of particular features. A MSSA requires a separate endorsement on a standard firearms licence. This is known as an ‘E’ endorsement. The Arms Act 1983 defines the features that make a firearm a MSSA. Description of MSSA - Arms Act 1983: Military Style Semi-Automatic firearm (MSSA) Means a firearm (other than a pistol) that is— (A) a semi-automatic firearm having 1 or more of the following features: • a folding or telescopic butt • a magazine designed to hold 0.22-inch rim fire cartridges that— (A) is capable of holding more than 15 cartridges; or (B) is detachable, and by its appearance indicates that it is capable of holding more than 15 cartridges 3 FIREFIGHT INDUSTRIES • a magazine (other than one designed to hold 0.22-inch rim fire cartridges) that— (A) is capable of holding more than 7 cartridges; or (B) is detachable, and by its appearance indicates that it is capable of holding more than 10 cartridges • bayonet lugs • a flash suppressor • a component of a kind defined or described by an order under section 74A as a pistol grip for the purposes of this definition. The definition of a pistol is. Definition of a Pistol – Arms Act 1983: Pistol means any firearm that is designed or adapted to be held and fired with one hand; and includes any firearm that is less than 762 millimeters in length. The key to understanding this issue is to recognise that the legislation defines a pistol and a MSSA as two completely different firearms. A firearm cannot be both, it is either a pistol or a MSSA. If we look at a pistol first, the Act defines a pistol firstly as a firearm designed or adapted to be held and fired with one hand. This shows their clear intention; that they are talking about small, hand-held firearms. The second part states “and includes any firearm that is less than 762 millimetres in length”. Parliament is clearly talking about the firearms overall length and, if less than 762mm, it is to be categorised as a pistol. The key word here is “is”, not “it can be” or “it could be” after modification or adaption. The Act does not indicate that the firearm should be folded up to its smallest form for this measurement to be taken. It does not state that the firearm’s defining features should be removed, or any other parts of the firearm removed, prior to measuring. It simply states that its length should not be less than 762mm. It is interesting to note that the English dictionary defines length as: 1. Distance from end to end; 2. The quality of being long; and 3. Size from beginning to end. Having established the definition of a MSSA and the definition of a pistol, we can now look at the MSSA features that are on the Scorpion Evo rifle subject to this report. It is these features that are the key to understanding this problem.