July 19, 2022
Goff dials back gun crime panic
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is reluctant to call an upsurge in gun incidents in his city a crime crisis.
Last night a man was shot by police in Grey Lynn after what neighbours allege appeared to be a drug-related incident in which he was shooting a rifle at his own house.
Mr Goff says most of the more than two dozen incidents this year were linked to a feud between the Tribesmen and Killer Beez gangs.
Drug offending, family violence and mental illness were also factors in incidents, but he’s confident the extra resourcing put into policing will stop the problems from spiralling out of control.
“I mean in the United States they have a mass shooting every day of the year. We haven’t reached that point. We don’t want to get to that point. Even as a firearms owner myself I would say it is better we have tighter control over firearms and registration of firearms to do everything we can to prevent them from getting into the hands of people who are criminals or mentally disturbed or who are going to misuse those firearms,” Mr Goff says.