KEY POINTS:
New Zealand gun laws would have intercepted someone as disturbed as the Virginia Tech killer - but the black market is awash with weapons.
In Virginia, Cho Seung-Hui went to a gun shop, paid $780 and had a Glock semi-automatic pistol within 20 minutes.
In New Zealand, it would have taken nine months and proof that the buyer was a collector or genuinely belonged to a gun club.
Dealer Greg Carvell of Small Arms International said that in 11 years he had seen only one person try to buy without a licence - a man after a .22 for pest destruction who genuinely didn't understand the law.
Applying for a licence costs $123.75. Inspector Joe Green, police manager of firearms licensing and vetting, took the Weekend Herald through the process.
First you must pay the fee and be subjected to a police check. Then, a "vetter" contracted to the police will talk to two referees, one your next of kin and one unrelated to you. The vetter will interview you, come to your house and assess its security.
He or she will report to the local police arms officer with a recommendation.
Then prepare yourself for a course with a Mountain Safety Council officer. It takes an hour and a half and includes a video to watch and a test at the end. The officer will keep a close eye on you and report anything strange or any slip-up to the arms officer.
All going well, six to seven weeks later you will be deemed "fit and proper" and your licence will be in the post.
But you cannot get a Glock yet, because that requires an "endorsed" licence. Another fee ($200), another application. You will either need to prove you are a bona fide collector or be a member of a pistol club. You will also need two more referees from the gun community.
So, nine months on, you might have a pistol. Even then, you'll have to watch your behaviour for fear of having it revoked - as happens to about 300 people a year.
But guns still end up in the wrong hands, when people know where the owners keep the weapons and how to unlock them.
Mr Green said Daniel Luff, the 17-year-old who shot Detective Duncan Taylor in 2002 at Rongotea in the Manawatu, had taken the rifle from someone he knew. And Stephen Anderson, who killed six people in Raurimu in 1997, had his licence revoked because of his mental state - but his father's licence was valid.
The black market is apparently alive with weapons, but only if you are in the know. And don't expect to go the pub and get a Glock; you'll mainly get shotguns and .22s that you'll have to cut down yourself.
Prices vary - Mr Green has heard of $50-$100 for .22s and shotguns and $1000 or more for a pistol.
Mr Carvell said the black market for guns was there for anyone who tried hard enough to find it - "just like if you wanted to buy a stolen yucca plant, if you looked hard enough you'll get one".
Underworld figures do seem to get them. Outcasts gang member Kim Smith, the subject of a major manhunt in Port Waikato in 2005, sparked last year's investigation into military weapon imports.
Police seized hundreds of high-powered guns from dealers, collectors and gangs and revealed that these groups were linked by personal friendships or associations.
So Smith can get his hands on high-powered weaponry, but not a Glock. Who, then, in this country could get a Glock without a licence?
The answer is Graeme Burton. When police went looking for him for breaching his parole conditions they found one at the central Wellington apartment where he had been living. Mr Green had no idea where Burton got it from.
Guns in NZ
Total guns: 1,113,520 - estimate.
Total licence holders: 222,704.
Pistols: 35,298.
Licence holders with pistol endorsement: 2329.
Military-style semi-automatics: 8447.
Licence holders with military-style endorsement: 4257.
Restricted weapons (stun guns, grenades, mortars, etc): 3606.
Source: NZ Police. Figures are for October 2006
