The bewildering world of Chris Luxon - Guns for all, but no lunch for kids

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“$10 and a target that bleeds”

- Bleeding Targets for Under $10!

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This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely life-threatening.

To re-cap:

• scrapping reduced speed limits

• scrapping tobacco control laws

• scrapping/limiting school meals for kids

• and reintroducing availability of semi-automatic guns

The last one, in particular, is troubling for obvious reasons.

After the atrocity of 15 March 2019, where 51 New Zealanders were murdered in cold blood by a far-right lunatic who was legally entitled to own firearms - it seems that the gun lobby is striking back.

ACT MP, and Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms) - Nicole McKee - has one job, and one job only: to reinstate the legal ownership of semi-automatic firearms in Aotearoa. (At present, semi-automatics may only be legally owned for pest control, or held as collectors items, as long as they are in an inoperable state.)

As David Harman wrote in January 2022, detailing Ms McKee’s rise in politics:

At first glance, Nicole McKee doesn’t quite fit with ACT. The Maori netball player and top-flight competition shooter who lived on the DPB for some years might seem more comfortable in Labour or NZ First. But instead, she is something of an ACT poster girl.

[…]

She got involved in politics as the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO), which was set up to oppose some aspects of the Government’s clampdown on firearms after the Christchurch Mosque shootings. So she arrived in Parliament in 2020 with a reputation as the gun lady.

In the last few months, she has immersed herself in rolling back restrictions on semi-automatics, imposed by the previous Labour government.

There is a curious strategy adopted by Ms McKee and the gun lobby in Aotearoa. One that no one in the mainstream media seems to have noticed.

The rationale for bringing back semi-automatic weapons is currently cloaked in a single, simple talking point: competitive shooting:

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The only problem is that there is no explanation as to what kind of “competitive shooting” involves military style semi-automatic firearms. It certainly can’t be Olympic-class shooting: they don’t use semi-automatic rifles. (There is rapid-fire pistol shooting, from a standing-still position.)

It appears that the “competition shooting” referred to by Ms McKee is a form of “sport” imported from the United States (no surprises there) called “3Gun”.

According to the Auckland Pistol Club’s website:

One of the most exciting shooting sports in the country right now is the action-packed multi-gun competition commonly known as "3Gun."

The reason for the name is pretty obvious - competitors use three different firearms during the competition:

* a modern sporting rifle (MSR), that is, a rifle built on an AR-platform;

* a shotgun; and

* a handgun.

Matches generally involve courses where the shooter must move through different stages and engage targets in a variety of different positions, each stage requiring the use of a specific firearm.

The targets might include clay pigeons, cardboard targets and steel targets of varying sizes. Distances of the targets might vary from 1 yard to 500 yards or anything in between.

The shooter who hits the most targets -- and avoids certain "no shoot" ones -- in the least amount of time is the winner.

Note the reference to avoiding “no shoot” targets:

The steel base supports two cardboard or paper targets which start off parallel to the ground and out of the shooter's line of sight.  When the activator cable is pulled, a threat target pops-up into view. The shooter will have a short amount of time to engage the threat before a no-shoot (friendly) target, begins rising and eventually obstructs their view of the threat.  

This target is a popular choice for USPSA, 3-Gun, and IDPA matches. 

The “aim” here is to shoot the “threat” (bad guy) but not the “friendly”.

The Auckland Pistol Club describes the type of rifle preferred:

Most serious competitors choose MSRs in .223 caliber with fairly short barrels in the 18- to 20-inch range and 30-round magazines, although any semi-auto that will handle larger magazines is normally permitted.

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The Christchurch Pistol Club goes even further:

Just as it is with the practical pistol matches, 3-gun simulates combat or self-defence situations. A stage provides a certain scenario for using one or more of the guns in a specific sequence. Each stage in each match will usually be different than any you’ve shot before.

For the most part, the webpage text is near-identical and appears to be copied verbatim from United States websites such as NSSF Firearms Industry Trade Association:

One of the fastest growing shooting sports in the country right now is the action-packed multi-gun competition commonly known as “3-gun.”

The reason for the name is somewhat obvious; competitors use three different firearms — a modern sporting rifle (MSR), that is, a rifle built on an AR-platform; a pistol; and a shotgun. Matches generally involve courses where the shooter must move through different stages and engage targets in a variety of different positions. Each stage will generally require the use of different firearms and require the shooter to transition between them.

The targets might include clay pigeons, cardboard silhouettes, steel targets of varying sizes and anything else the match organizer designates as a target. Distances of the targets might vary from 1 yard to 500 yards or anything in between. The shooter who hits the most targets — and avoids certain “no shoot” ones — in the least amount of time is the winner.

And,

Just as it is with the practical pistol matches, 3-gun simulates combat or self-defense situations.

The US website encourages “30-round magazines. But any semi-auto that will handle larger magazines are normally permitted”.

The website helpfully provides printable targets; deer, beer, bird shooting, “goofy” gopher, standard bullseye targets; and some very colourful “cute” images - for younger shooters?

There’s also this:

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Human targets are apparently a “no go”. Not a good look. But a humanoid alien - well, that’s ok, then, isn’t it? They may look like us, but they’re not really like us, are they?

Which is probably what every mass-shooter thought as they took aim at their victims.

YouTube has a multitude of “3Gun” videos; almost all featuring middle-aged white men, puffing and panting as they run around off-the-beaten tracks. Their lethal weaponry would not be out of place in the battlefields of Eastern and Southern Ukraine. (Although their dubious physical fitness might be a handicap.)

The NRA website also has wording similar, if not near-identical, to the webpages above.

Military.com is more open in its description of 3Gun:

3-Gun shooting can trace its roots back to the Soldier of Fortune (SOF) matches put on by SOF magazine, starting in the early 1980s and continuing into the '90s. These shoots simulated combat with pistols, rifles, and shotguns and used military or law enforcement (LE) type firearms. From that beginning, the sport has become one of the fastest growing shooting sports in the country. If you love to pull triggers, give this exciting game a try.

As I said earlier, it can encompass long-range precision shooting or ultra close, "hose-them-down" situations - and everything in between - sometimes all in one stage. The action moves fast and will draw on every shooting and gun handling skill you possess. The shooting is "practical" style, which means it simulates combat or self defense.

Note the reference to “give this exciting game a try”. Game. Not sport.

Contrast the 3Gun wannabee-warriors with actual Olympic sporting shooters.

Pistols:

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Rifles:

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Writing for Newsroom, Laura Walters, described ACT MP Nicole McKee as little more than a mouthpiece for the gun lobby:

McKee graced the country’s TV screens almost nightly in the wake of the Christchurch attack. As the Government ushered through two rounds of gun law changes she became the calm and consistent voice of the opposition to the proposed firearms reform.

This approach keeps with a recent international shift in the way pro-gun groups do public relations. Well-designed communications issues management strategies, which rely on research and reason, have taken over from the old ideological arguments.

A similar shift has taken place in the United States over the past decade, with the NRA’s rhetoric and communications strategies also evolving.

No longer are easy-to-discount, angry men the face of the firearms community. Instead, it’s people like Australia’s Samara McPhedran and Nicole McKee.

McKee has been so effective in her communication, she was named BlacklandPR’s Communicator of the Year in 2019.

And not just adults. The gun lobby are not above using children to promote their nefarious goals:

In an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Maddy Millen-Turner, 13, said her hopes and dreams had been crushed by new gun laws forcing her to hand back her prized semi-automatic rifle.

The Waikato girl said she was reduced to tears when told about the ban on guns like her AR-15 that she was given as a birthday present.

She had competed in three gun and multi-gunning events under her father's gun licence with an AR-15 rifle and said her sports discipline had now been taken away from her.

Ms Tipple said kids as young as six and younger could be responsible shooters and was proud of the 13-year-old for standing up for what she believed in.

She told Checkpoint existing laws that allowed a child to use a gun in a supervised environment were reasonable.

The 28-year-old, who manages the Christchurch branch of Gun City and is the daughter of owner David Tipple, said the hobbies of many people had lost and she shared their frustration.

If this is the “competition shooting” that Ms McKee is referring to - wannabee Weekend Warriors hyped up on testosterone playing with lethal weaponry - then perhaps she should be more upfront with the public.

This is certainly not a sport recognised by the Olympics or Commonwealth.

As for our current PM’s questionable attempt to placate an uneasy public:

Luxon said there would be "no new guns added into New Zealand".

"[Nicole McKee Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms)] is very cognisant of making sure that we end up with a stronger piece of legislation around public safety, but also good compliance.

"And importantly, she wants to take on board fully the royal commission of inquiry recommendations. She wants to make that a fully transparent and open process when she's ready to talk about the proposals for the rewrite of that legislation, but it's all too premature at this point."

“No new guns”?

Semi-automatics are not “new”. It was the weapon-of-choice for the mass-murderer who, five years, committed one of the most monstrous acts in modern Aotearoan history.

No one will be convinced by Mr Luxon’s attempt at reassurance.

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Poem for the Day

Time for some FUN
Just grab my GUN
Bang, bang, bang, POP
When will I STOP!

Did I hit SOMEONE?

(A new feature, courtesy of my fiancee, who also does my proofreading. Thank you, sweetheart!)

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References

Lead image: Youtube - Bleeding Targets for Under $10! - DIY Range Build

Newsroom: Shooter trained at Otago gun club

Politik: Guns and knitting needles - Nicole McKee’s remarkable political journey

RNZ: MPs petitioned over allowing competitive shooters to use semi-automatic firearms

The Post: Government to reopen debate over semi-automatic gun ban

RNZ: Semi-automatics on the table in gun laws shake-up

The Press: Chch Imam ‘saddened and disappointed‘ by proposed gun law changes

Waatea News: Luxon defends gun law change

Newsroom: ‘It’s alarming’: Imam to tell PM of fears about firearms law changes

Gun Policy: Gold Medal Gunslingers (PDF)

Auckland Pistol Club: IPSC   3GUN

Challenge Targets: Double Pop-Up Clamshell Target System

Christchurch Pistol Club: 3 Gun & Multigun

NSSF Firearms Industry Trade Association: The Exciting Sport of 3-Gun Shooting (USA)

NSSF Firearms Industry Trade Association: Targets

NRA: What is 3-Gun?

Military.com: 3-Gun!

Youtube: Shooting - Men's 50m Pistol Qual and Final | Rio 2016 Replays

Youtube: Rio Replay - 50m Rifle Prone Men's Final

Newsroom: Nicole McKee - Firearms, freedom and family

RNZ: Olympic shooter 'proud' of teen's letter to PM over loss of AR-15

RNZ: 'No new guns' - Luxon's promise ahead of gun law reform

Additional

Olympics: Gunning for glory - Know everything about shooting at the Olympics

Previous related blogposts

15 March: Aotearoa’s Day Of Infamy (2019)

The Christchurch Attack: is the stage is set for a continuing domino of death? (2019)

Simon Bridges: the 15 March Christchurch massacre and winning at any cost (2019)

Bad guys with a gun and good guys with a gun - America's waking nightmare (2022)

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Acknowledgement: Rod Emmerson

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