The family of a man shot dead by a high-powered air rifle is welcoming a policy change that will see all those with such weapons requiring a firearms licence.

The country's youngest convicted killer has been charged with assault after allegedly punching his mum on Mother's Day.

Gun killings in NZ have declined the most in an international comparison - even though it has less strict licensing laws than Canada and Australia.

Brad Chapman said he would never forgive Tonya Bennett for setting fire to his Pukekohe home knowing his mother was asleep upstairs.

Police investigating the slaying of farmer Scott Guy are following up reports of a woman trying to give away chocolate coloured Labrador puppies in a Palmerston North car park.

An armed gang member is still at large after a fruitless police search in east Hamilton this morning.

A teenager who admitted murdering a mother-of-three by setting her house alight was today jailed for a minimum of 11 and a half years.

Police have admitted a man they gunned down pointed a stolen air rifle but never fired before they started shooting. And the man's brother says it wasn't loaded.

Shannon Lawson, 38, who was shot by police in west Auckland on Sunday, has been remanded in custody after a brief appearance in court today.

Bruce Emery, jailed for killing tagger Pihema Cameron, is suffering from stress and depression and can't yet be released from prison,

Police are still trying to establish if the theft of three labrador puppies is linked to owner Scott Guy's murder.

Police are investigating whether the disappearance of three puppies from a Feilding property is linked to the murder of farmer Scott Guy.

A Malaysian court sentenced a man to death for murdering his Indonesian maid in a landmark verdict.

Windows were smashed and walls tagged at the home of a murdered Manawatu farmer last year, but police say there is no connection between the two crimes.