Violence in Families a National Shame

Last week activists from more than 28 countries got together for the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence.
Violence in Families a National Shame
At present the police have no accurate idea of how many guns are in circulation. (Sandra Mu/Getty Images)
6/30/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/74977774.jpg" alt="At present the police have no accurate idea of how many guns are in circulation. (Sandra Mu/Getty Images)" title="At present the police have no accurate idea of how many guns are in circulation. (Sandra Mu/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1827634"/></a>
At present the police have no accurate idea of how many guns are in circulation. (Sandra Mu/Getty Images)
NEW ZEALAND—Last week activists from more than 28 countries got together for the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence. Their aim is to raise awareness for the shocking statistics of gun violence in the home and to demand policies to keep women safe.

International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) say that women are three times more likely to die violently if there is a gun in the house. The offenders are usually a spouse or partner with a past history of domestic violence. This is why they are pressing for spouses and partners to be consulted before a gun licence is granted.

The Government scrapped the lifetime licences in 1992 for 10-year licences after David Gray killed 13 people in Aramoana in 1990. However thousands of firearms remain potentially unaccounted for despite a police campaign for lifetime gun licence owners to renew or hand weapons in.

At present the police do not have an accurate idea of how many guns are in circulation or whether they are legal or illegal. At this stage licensed owners can have any number of firearms.

Sir Thomas Thorpe a former High Court Judge recommended that all firearms be registered, the establishment of an independent firearms agency, the banning of military-style semi-automatics and the reduction of the 10-year owner licence to three years.

So far only the first suggestion has been implemented.

Canada tightened its gun laws in 1995, and by 2003 the gun murder rate dropped by 15 per cent overall and by 40 percent for women. Australia, overhauled its gun laws in 1996, and within five years, saw a 45 percent drop in the number of women murdered.

In a media release Families Commissioner Dr Jan Pryor said that last year’s 12.4 per cent rise in reported family violence is good news, because it showed that more people are reporting incidents and society as a whole was becoming less tolerant of violence in its midst.

However, the figures show that violence within families is at a far higher level than estimated.

“The police figures, together with other statistical evidence, do not indicate an increase in family violence,” Dr Pryor says. “Rather, it has been seriously under reported in the past.”