Rather than talking about how to tackle the rise of firearm violence in our communities, the Police should just take the guns off the gangs, National’s Police spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

“It’s past time for the Government to implement National’s Firearm Prohibition Orders. This would immediately give Police the tools to combat gun violence. We’ve got the draft legislation, the Government just needs to adopt it.

“The law change would allow Police to issue violent gang members with special orders preventing them from holding a firearm licence or being in the presence of a firearm.

“For Police to do their job properly they need the resources and backing from the Government. Instead, they’ve got a soft-on-crime Government disinterested in disrupting the crime and harm gangs peddle in our communities.

“By cancelling the Armed Response Team operations last year a gap has been left which the gangs have only been too happy to fill. The threat to public safety has increased, with New Zealanders regularly opening their newspapers to reports of gun violence.

“Since Labour has been in Government there has been a 42 per cent increase in gang membership. But of the 700 police promised by Labour to target organised crime and gangs, only 239 have been delivered.

“The National Party has no tolerance for firearm violence and the devastation that comes with it. We’ll back and resource our Police to take the guns off the gangs and keep New Zealanders safe.”