Quoted: Quoted: I'm sure owning any sought of  semi-auto "assault weapon" is a special privelege, and extremely difficult to posses. I didn't see anything specifically about the right to carry a HANDGUN. I'm sure if you are one of the 3% who is willing to submit to the vigerous background check and red tape,  you will be granted the right to use a pistol ONLY for "club" or competition purposes.....and that's all! Personally, because I never want to become a victim in an indoor parking garage, or out in the middle of nowhere while on the road or out in the open country, I would never consider such places as a permanent home. HOWEVER, if it's any consulation to you, far off and forgotten places like NZ would be the last place to take a hit during the onset of WWIII New Zealand has a FALLING murder rate... In the 2004/2005 period, there were 80 homicides of all types in the entire country of 4 Miilion, with a clear up rate of 86%. Take out the gang killings in Wellington and Auckland from the equation and you are about as likely to be hit by a falling rock than murdered with a gun in NZ. ANdy

A few little comments about NZ....

New Zealand is a nice little country, but it has it's own culture.

This might sound a bit strange, But using firearms in crimes in NZ is considered unacceptable. The general culture of NZ is one of not using firearms against each other.  The law prohibits the ownership of firearms for the purpose of self-defense, it does not prohibit the use of a firearm in self-defence. If you understand this you can start to understand NZ

The fighting you see in Once were Warriors, is entertainment, not done with malice, it's just fun.
Guys like that go out drinking and fighting all weekend, That's their 'sport'

NZ has an Unarmed (mostly) Police Force.
In WWII it sent 25% of it's entire population to war.
It had it's own form of civil war in the 1840-1870's

For those who have looked up the Licence Categories, I have :
A-General Rifles/Shotguns/etc
B-Pistol (for competition use)
C-Collectors (Pistols, MG's, etc)
E-MSSA (Military Style Semi Auto)

-----------------------

To Answer some the question from right at the start.
It is a nice place, about the size of CA, but Thinner and longer, with a population of 4 Million. You are never more than 100 Miles from the ocean.
Quality of Living is very good
Cost of living is Low (Salaries are nothing to excited about from an international point of view)

In any of the cities, it is wise to lock your car and house.
I own a convertable, so I don't bother, I have considered an alarm for it, but I keep thinking the false alarms would be too much hassle.


One thing you do notice, their really isn't a 'Big Brother' in NZ. Both the Government and Population are too small for any effective 'government controlling the people' ability.

Quoted: Hmmm.....this is interesting. And some on this board think US cops have too much authority: Police powers Police may search premises and persons without warrant if they reasonably believe an indictable offence or an offence against the Arms Act has been committed, or that a person in possession of a firearm may present a danger to himself or to any other person. Occupiers of premises and drivers of vehicles are deemed to be in possession of any firearms found therein. It is a standard condition of every order issued under the DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 1995 that the respondent may not hold a firearms licence unless a Court directs otherwise or modifies that condition. In our law, the Police have search powers under each piece of legislation such as the Arms Act, Misuse of Drugs Act, Crimes Act and a few others, as opposed to your system as I understand it where the Police just need 'probable cause' and may search regardless of what it is they are after such as drugs, weapons, stolen property. Its not that cut and dried in practise and is generally only used during things like vehicle stops.  You would need a warrant for the big jobs.  They still need 'good cause to suspect' or 'reasonable grounds for believing' type stuff...its not like they just pull you over and then start searching you for dope. And as regards the Domestic Violence Act firearms surrendering requirement, thats there from a case a few years back where, surprise, surprise, Dad shoots Mum after she says shes leaving him because he hits her (slightly abridged).  Thats never going to change.

The use of the above laws, regards if the search finds anything means the officer who used them must submit a Written justifcation to the Commissioner of Police within 24hours of using such powers, for review. In addition to all the usual paperwork.

One more thing to give you a clue about the place :

You know all the airline security since 9/11. Ie. taking you nail clippers and sissors etc off you.

Last year NZ finally gave up the madness and stopped doing it. Too much hassle, too much cost, no reward.

When anti-gunners in NZ wanted universal registration of all guns, it was the NZ Police who killed it. Too expensive, too much hassle, does nothing.

Wasn't it NZ that decided, "What the heck do we need an Air Force for?" and disbanded it?

Quoted: Wasn't it NZ that decided, "What the heck do we need an Air Force for?" and disbanded it?

Yep, the government in charge at the moment is a socialist one.
So they ditched all the Fighter aircraft in the Airforce, Crazy stuff. The government desided there wasn't a good enough reason to have fighter aircraft. Ok, it was a small fighter wing, with no re-fueling aircraft, there isn't much to use them against, and no where for them to go, except Australia, but I think it was a mistake to get rid of them.

From the CIA factbook,  some idea of the massive military NZ has.
CIA Factbook on NZ
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.147 billion (FY03/04) Oh wow.. so much! LOL

However Being a little quiet country at the end of the earth that no one cares about has it's advantages, You dont' tend to hear many threats from Al Qaeda towards NZ, even though the NZSAS is lurking around Afghanistan shooting them.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Yep, the government in charge at the moment is a socialist one. So they ditched all the Fighter aircraft in the Airforce, Crazy stuff. The government desided there wasn't a good enough reason to have fighter aircraft. Ok, it was a small fighter wing, with no re-fueling aircraft, there isn't much to use them against, and no where for them to go, except Australia, but I think it was a mistake to get rid of them. That will teach your air force to paint a flightless bird on the side!he ANdy

Yep, That's exactly the plan... The A4 Skyhawks (despite many upgrades) are still old fighters.
shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=62820

Quoted: Being able to walk into a store and buy a AR over the counter is not the only thing in life.

HERESY!!

Quoted: Quoted: If you are looking at immigrating solely based on a countrys gun laws, then you are on the wrong track.   Who does that? Somalia is the number one country in the world by liberal gun laws, but I have not seen anybody who's  packing up their gear to move to Mogadishu yet.

Wonder how many Arfcommers know how liberal the Gun laws are in India. You can own ANYTHING there. Thing is, places like europe there are too many do-gooders that have nothing better to do with their time but to come up with laws and policies that infringe on other's rights.

 What is the point of owning guns there?  YOu jump through everal hoops and you still can't use them for self-defense or protection.

R,

Well, there is always Finland

Quoted: But that was the problem, really big guys steeped in a warrior tradition who were ignoring the unworthy Pakeha wimps.... the locals mistook their response to mean they were gutless and got braver with the insults.... and a clash of cultures resulted. Andy

I can see that...walk softly and carry a big Mere...

Quoted: Quoted: hat Self Defence or Protection from what? An irate Kiwi bird?hr

They have a nasty scratch that could just break the skin, that cut could become infected and lead to your death.... A deadly animal.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Oh good grief. What kind of an idiot decides that picking on a group of drunk (or sober, for that matter) blokes built like brick sh*thouses is a good idea? Its like saying "excuse me sir, I'm tired of life. Please kill me". For anyone here who hasn't seen a Maori before, think George Forman. Their women are bigger than him. The ones I've met are nice enough, but you treat them with respect. Nicely. I have the greatest respect for international rugby players who go up against the All-Blacks. Charging around running into human tanks for a living is not my idea of fun. Except for South Africa. The Springboks deserve it.

Very sound advice, my wife is a Pacific Islander and have gotten to party with the various Polynesians.   They are usually laid back if you get to hang with them, expect to have a plate of food handed to you (trust me, it will be good too) but stay out of frag range when they start getting boozed up as Alcohol & Pacific Islander is an incendiary mix.   They drink till there is no more booze or they pass out!!!

Quoted: One more thing to give you a clue about the place : You know all the airline security since 9/11. Ie. taking you nail clippers and sissors etc off you. Last year NZ finally gave up the madness and stopped doing it. Too much hassle, too much cost, no reward. When anti-gunners in NZ wanted universal registration of all guns, it was the NZ Police who killed it. Too expensive, too much hassle, does nothing.

That sounds like a good attitude, and just the opposite of what we normally get here. It's always about reelection, power, more taxes, etc.


I used to see posts on another board by a guy from NZ who duck hunted a lot. I think he said it's difficult to find a place you're allowed to hunt there, but this was a couple years ago so my memory isn't real clear on it. I know a couple guys talked about going there to duck hunt, but they never went.
 Is there public hunting land, and if not is it difficult to get permission to hunt on private land? (For citizens).

What exactly defines a semi automatic rifle or shotgun that needs an endorsement to ,say, a shotgun that is considere sporting and needs no endorsement?

BTW: Guns are necessary in New Zealand to control feral deer and goats, ect.

Thanks

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: If you are looking at immigrating solely based on a countrys gun laws, then you are on the wrong track.   Who does that? Somalia is the number one country in the world by liberal gun laws, but I have not seen anybody who's  packing up their gear to move to Mogadishu yet. Wonder how many Arfcommers know how liberal the Gun laws are in India. You can own ANYTHING there. Thing is, places like europe there are too many do-gooders that have nothing better to do with their time but to come up with laws and policies that infringe on other's rights.

Don't worry, America has it's fair share of freedom raping marxists who seemingly have no other objective in life but to rape the freedoms of honest law abiding people.


To answer the question of who choses to live in a country based on that nation's gun laws, there are plenty of people that consider the right to own a firearm a god given birthright that is inalienable. While people who were born and raised in gun ownership rights restrictive nations may not fully understand this, there are plenty of Americans who do. Mostly because of being a victim of crime or family history of hunting/shooting sports/general gun ownership.

Quoted: What exactly defines a semi automatic rifle or shotgun that needs an endorsement to ,say, a shotgun that is considere sporting and needs no endorsement? BTW: Guns are necessary in New Zealand to control feral deer and goats, ect. Thanks

Specifically -
It is an MSSA if it is Self-loading (semi-auto) and has one or more of the following :
- Folding or Telescopic Butt
- Magazine capacity of more than (7 rounds centrefire, 15 rounds Rimfire)
- Bayonet Lug
- Free Standing Military style Pistol Grip
- Flash Suppressor

BTW as an aside, Silencers are not regulated in any way in New Zealand.

Quoted: Quoted: What exactly defines a semi automatic rifle or shotgun that needs an endorsement to ,say, a shotgun that is considere sporting and needs no endorsement? BTW: Guns are necessary in New Zealand to control feral deer and goats, ect. Thanks Specifically - It is an MSSA if it is Self-loading (semi-auto) and has one or more of the following : - Folding or Telescopic Butt - Magazine capacity of more than (7 rounds centrefire, 15 rounds Rimfire) - Bayonet Lug - Free Standing Military style Pistol Grip - Flash Suppressor

So, grenade launchers are fine and dandy, then?