Originally posted by Dune
I'm assuming you don't mean that NZ doesn't have any gun ownership.
Otherwise, why would the NZ Council of Licensed Firearms owners say that there are 235,000 there? http://www.colfo.org.nz/
Face it, if a criminal wants a gun, he will get one. This is exactly what Australia and the UK have found out. The number of law-abiding gun owners do not impact this. And this is the problem with gun control laws. They do not accomplish what they set out to do.
Sorry, I mean't gun ownership in US terms (which seems to be a free for all). Getting a firearms license in NZ is quite a lot of work. You have to pass a safety theory exam, get a background check, get two referees of good standing, cops also check you have suitable storage facilities for firearms etc.
1 million firearms in NZ my ass! Maybe if you counted air-rifles (and soft air guns LOL).
If a criminal wants a firearm, yes he will get one? Maybe not, because of the much smaller commerical market the avenues to obtain a firearm (and ammo) are a lot harder. For example, say a teenager in the US wants to get a gun, its likely the will succeed very easily. Whereas in NZ it would be extremely hard. Whereas an experienced criminal who has the right connections might be able too.
Licensing lessons the commercial market. A smaller commercial market means relatively less unaccounted for firearms. Which makes them that much harder to source illicitly.