Christchurch mosque shootings: Farmers back action on 'glaring hole' in gun laws

Federated Farmers' spokesperson for Firearm Safety, Miles Anderson. Photo / Supplied

There's no place on New Zealand farms for military style assault weapons, says Federated Farmers.

But Feds Firearm Safety spokesman Miles Anderson told The Country's Jamie Mackay rural people still relied on semi-automatic weapons for pest control.

"In some cases they don't and in some cases they do. If you're dealing with huge numbers of pests, whether it's rabbits, hares, wallabies, deer, goats, tahr – unfortunately the best tool for the job is a semi-automatic firearm."

Mackay suggested perhaps a "one gun, one bullet," option would be better for controlling pests.

"The problem is Jamie, by the time you reload in the case of the lot of those animals, they're gone – and you haven't dealt with the pest problem at all."

Miles Anderson said rural people still relied on semi-automatic weapons for pest control. Photo / File

Anderson said Federated Farmers backed the Government's stance on making gun licensing laws tougher, in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings.

"We support working with the Government around coming up with some solutions to what has been an obviously glaring hole in the rules and regulations around gun control."

However, Anderson was quick to point out that he is not endorsing "military-type assault weapon[s]", as "there's no place for them on farm at all."

"I'm certain that something sensible can be worked out , we certainly don't want to have a repeat of what happened in Christchurch."

Listen to the full interview below: