Firearms reforms must protect fundamental human rights
Firearms reforms must protect fundamental human rights
Amnesty International has submitted on the human rights implications of the Arms Legislation Bill.
Advocacy and Policy Manager Annaliese Johnston says the Bill touches on a number of human rights that are integral to people’s ability to live a free, safe and equal life full of dignity, opportunity and promise.
“The 51 people who died on March 15, allegedly at the hands of a gunman who obtained his weapon legally, had their rights taken away from them. As did the many more who were injured and who witnessed the attacks and who will now suffer lifelong trauma, health issues and disability. As did their families, some of whom are among our own members. It is people’s right to life, health, security, physical integrity, freedom from discrimination, standard of living, and right to participate in religious and cultural life that are at stake here. For this reason, we must get regulation on firearms right.”
Johnston says Amnesty International
overall supports the Bill’s proposed
changes.
“We support that the Bill makes clear
that owning a firearm is a privilege, not a right. We as
people have a fundamental right to life, and to live lives
where we can express our cultures and beliefs free from
physical threat or harm. Protecting that right to life
includes limiting who has access to firearms because owning
a firearm is a privilege, not a necessity for life.”
She says the changes also consider the wider
applications of the proposed firearm
legislation.
“We are also supportive of the proposed
changes that seek to strengthen the protection of those who
are experiencing, or who are survivors of, domestic and
gender-based violence. This is through the proposal to
implement a disqualifying risk factor for those who have
been convicted of a serious offence, or who have had a
protection order made against them in the last 10 years.
This is particularly important in the context of New
Zealand’s extraordinary high rates of domestic violence.
The proposed changes also better consider the rights of the
most vulnerable and of those who may be at risk of
self-harm.”
Amnesty International has also
made recommendations in addition to the
reforms.
“We have made several recommended
changes in addition to the proposed changes to ensure that
New Zealand is in line with international best practice.
These include increasing the age someone can apply for a
firearms licence, reducing the number of years a licence can
last, and a recommendation to widen the focus of the
firearms advisory group to better consider the broader
societal impacts of firearm violence.
Johnston adds
the changes are well overdue.
“These
reforms are very much overdue; given the extensive policy
development and expert and public consultation that has
occurred over the last two decades with minimal change
resulting. It brings New Zealand better in line with our
domestic and global human rights obligations, including the
international covenant on civil and political rights that
New Zealand committed to upholding back in 1978.”
ENDS