Letter Re: New Zealand as a Retreat Locale, and New Zealand vs. U.S. Gun Laws

Dear Mr. Rawles,

You wrote the following lumping NZ in with two other countries “The downside in all three countries is that their citizenries are unfairly subjected to draconian gun laws. (At least by American standards.) If you can live with registering all of your guns and some ridiculous restrictions on full capacity magazines, then by all means take a look in New Zealand. By reputation, the real estate firm to consider there is Bayleys”.

I would like to clarify a few points. First of all our gun laws are better here than some of your cities and states. There is no registration of sporting weapons, only MSSAs [Military Style Semiautomatic rifles or shotguns], Collectors (full auto), and pistols. If you have MSSA’s or pistols your magazines are not restricted at all. Any licensed gun owner can buy a suppressor from the local gun shop with no paperwork. By the same token, I could say the US has draconian gun laws because you can’t buy suppressors without ridiculous fingerprinting and outrageous tax penalties by the [American] BATFE. Also, our tax collectors don’t burn children for their own good like the ATF.

Bayleys is a fine real estate firm but they specialize in the premium end of the market. Those wishing to move here would be advised to spend some time determining where they want to live before plopping down serious money for a property as we have a huge range of climates and lifestyles (rural through urban). Cheers, – B.