Rushed changes to legislation by Government has seen the wrong gun owners targeted by police in the six-month long gun buy-back and amnesty scheme.
That was the conclusion of Northlander Phil Cregeen, secretary of the Sport Shooters Association of New Zealand, who said lawful gun owners had been targeted rather than illegal gun owners and in particular gangs.
While police in Wellington heading the operation were unable to provide regional numbers until next year, nationally the Minister of Police Stuart Nash thanked around 33,000 firearms owners for helping make New Zealand a safer place by participating in the gun buyback with 60,907 prohibited firearms removed from circulation.
Types of assault rifles, high-capacity firearms and military style semi-automatics used in the Christchurch terror attack on March 15 were the target of the campaign that ended last week.
However, Cregeen said many firearms owners were unhappy about the process and their property they had lawfully bought had been confiscated and they had not all received the right amount of compensation.