It was revealed in the Herald 22 June that the documents stolen from the abandoned Central Auckland Police Station covered the years from 2003 to 2018, a much longer period than first announced by Police.
The report in the NZ Herald today that the documents stolen from the abandoned Auckland Central Police Station in May actually spanned a much longer time frame, 2003 to 2018, has further angered licensed firearm owners says the Sporting Shooters Association of New Zealand (SSANZ) .
explains “This is a very serious security breach of sensitive information which now has the potential to affect thousands more lawful firearm owners said Sporting Shooters Association President Neville Dodd.
“It would appear to cover a period much greater than the Police first advised and covers a number of license renewal cycles. This is by far the worst security breach in NZ firearm history and is all due to Police negligence,” he said. “We demand that those responsible for this negligence, that puts the security of licensed firearm owners and their families at risk, be held to account”.
It further illustrates why licensed firearm owners are so opposed to the planned full firearm register, that will cost $1 Million per week, as police have now shown on a number of occasions that they are not capable of protecting private and sensitive information.
Police Response
The Police followed up with their own media release:
“Police operate a decentralised firearms licensing office model in each policing district. Auckland City a district has 5,602 firearms licence holders as at 1 April 2022. Note the following media release from this afternoon.
Superintendent Karyn Malthus, Auckland City District Commander said Police are continuing to analyse more than 4000 documents that were stolen and later recovered from the old Auckland Central Police station.
“As part of this, Police have identified over 2000 documents dated between 2003 and 2018. Of this, 444 data sheets containing names and address details of firearms licence holders have been identified and Police are engaged in notifying them.
“The other approximately 1500 documents recorded only address details, which means further collation and analysis is required to understand how many individuals those documents actually relate to.
“Police are continuing to work through contacting the people that have been affected by this breach.
“As Police have previously proactively released, there have been two firearms related burglaries in Auckland Central since the Police burglary occurred.
Offenders were apprehended in both instances and there has not been any link identified between those incidents and the Vincent Street burglary.
“Police continue to undertake daily monitoring of any incidents involving firearm licence holders, which includes theft or burglary reports.
“There remains no known organised crime link established by our investigation into the burglary at this time. Police can advise that there have been no incidents linked to information obtained as a result of the burglary.
“Police have established a dedicated 0800 line for firearms owners who wish to discuss the incident, 0800 462 379 along with the email address Vincent.Support@police.govt.nz
Footnote:-SSANZ said if any firearm owner have been impacted by this security breach he organisation would appreciate hearing from as to what information has been received from Police.
Sporting Shooters Association of New Zealand Inc <ssanzsec@gmail.com>
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Perhaps with new police minister Chris Hipkins (after the utter failures of Stuart Nash and Poto Williams) as previous police ministers, commonsense may be restored and the wasteful, pointless register system idea abandoned abandoned?
Hipkins is fast looking like Mr Fixit as he is given the job of fixing bungles by previous miniusters e.g. health, police and so on.
Certainly the Arderen cabinet looks like a bunchof crocks.
We cannot keep pointing the finger at each other and blame shifting.
Police reacted to a vote grabbing govt purely after more sympathetic votes. National would have done the same after the shooting!
We need top start fixing society and it would not be very hard at all.
Here’s my to do list.
1 All bars and clubs last drinks call at 10.30 pm closed by 11 every day of the week
2 Retail shut by 2pm Saturday and closed all of Sunday
3 Industry and business that can extend work hours for 4 days getting same production. Result! 3 day weekends and time to spend with the kids.
4 Teach maths, reading and writing like it used to be
5 Teachers must have a sport or musical instrument to pass onto students like used to be compulsory for all attending teachers college
6 Armed forces reopen the doors to the troubled youth and apprenticeship training. There was a time when the courts gave a choice army or jail. The NZ army were responsible for turning thousands of troubled youth into great men. Instead we now have an army where the hundreds that get in are normally finished within 2 years and out. ( wrong people being recruited!)
The list is but a star. Feel free to add more !! My opinion is by creating time in weekends and early training of kids into music or sports eventually we would see a return the old kiwi way of life. Work week, sports with the kids in the weekend plus extra time available for family and a return home early from the pub by the young people allowing the ability to get up in the weekends and achieve something of their lives. This would in turn slowly return NZ back to the good culture we once had.
Banning smacking was just about the biggest joke of the century towards helping society!!
This documentation of the names and addresses of owners of firearms is potentially dangerous.
Without such documentation the privacy, security and safety of people and their property is better protected.
Breaches of cyber security are common and likely to increase.
Information about who owns firearms of different types and shoots st gun clubs will always be at risk of disclosure.
The people imposing these regulations say they want people to be safer but are making the theft and misuse of firearms more likely.
It might be more rational and beneficial for the police resources to be fucussed on known and suspected criminals than law abiding licensed owners of firearms.
The people in this government seem to be too blinded by prejudice against guns to think and act responsibly fairly.
Discrimination, harassment, criminalizing and exposing licensed owners of firearms to robbery and possible harm is of no benefit to anyone except those with a prejudiced agenda to disarm all law abiding citizens.
It is difficult to think of anything more destructive of security around privately-owned firearms than the theft of lists about their owners!
Would it have happened had a completely independent Firearm Licensing Authority been created, as promised before the 2020 general election?
Familiar as we are with broken electoral promises, this last must take the cake?
And as for the Full Firearm Registration fallacy, at a million dollars a week for its initial establishment costs, with no supporting benefit-cost justification, this must represent a major hornswoggle for taxpayers’, money!
Should we be blaming “the police”?
Yes, police officers sometimes mistskes just like the rest of us because they are only human.
The people in the police enterprise do not make or even necessarily agree with the rules they are employed to administer.
The politicians and bureacrats in the current government decide what the police will do or not do.
Who decides which politicians will be in the parliament?
It is the politically active and influential elites in the 2 main political parties.
This minority of people choose who the rest can vote for in elections.
The culture of the influential elites in the political parties is very ant-guns and the intention of these politIcally powerful people is to ban guns so law abiding people cannot own or use them.
The only way to understand this is to join and become active in one of the 2 main political parties.
By attending their secret meetings, you will meet the people who want to confiscate your firearms.
You can also disagree with and oppose their prejudice against you and plans to confiscate your property.
Blaming “the police” increases the conflict between them and the responsible gun owners and that only benefits the politically elite minority who want to ban guns.
Let’s be nice to the police and not perceived as their enemies.