20 March 2019

“The conversation New Zealand is now having regarding the use of military-style semi-automatic firearms (MSSA’s) is important and the Game Animal Council wishes to clarify several aspects in relation to their use for hunting game animals,” says Chair Don Hammond.

The Game Animal Council (GAC) is a statutory organisation responsible for the sustainable management of game animals and hunting for recreation, commerce and conservation. The GAC therefore has an interest in the safe use and provision of firearms as they relate to game animal hunting and management in New Zealand.

“The reality is that for recreational game animal hunting there is little practical use for MSSA’s,” says Hammond. “The vast majority of recreational hunting of deer, tahr, chamois and wild pigs using firearms is done with bolt-action rifles.”

“The practical application for MSSA’s is for game animal management and commercial harvest undertaken by the Department of Conservation, professional animal controllers and commercial meat recovery operators. For this type of work a bolt-action rifle is impractical.”

“The GAC does not believe restrictions on the availability of MSSA’s will have a major impact on the recreational hunting of game animals. However, provision is needed for a very limited availability to those few organisations that undertake game animal management operations and commercial meat recovery. We do believe there are ways to provide for these applications while satisfying any objective further restricting the public availability of MSSA’s.”

“Finally, I want to state just how shocked and saddened the Game Animal Council is over the events in Christchurch last Friday. The Council wishes to pass on our gratitude to the New Zealand Police and the other emergency services for their outstanding response and to pass on our condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy.”

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