As Virginia citizens battle for their gun rights, an event on the other side of the world is giving them a hint of what they can expect if the state tries to take their guns.
In New Zealand, where they just implemented a gun “buyback” program, aka confiscation, which resulted in 56,000 of more than one million guns turned in, an activist is wondering what caused police to raid his suburban home filled with his wife and three young children.
BBC News – New Zealand: 56,000 #guns handed over during #amnesty https://t.co/CXfh33roiN #NZ #87RT #tweetuk #ukhashtags #atsocialmedia
— Ant Pope (@APBizOriginator) December 21, 2019
Dieuwe de Boer wrote a piece in Right Minds New Zealand in which he described the frightening raid. Police surrounded his house, knocked on his door, showed him a warrant, and tore his house apart for the next 90 minutes:
Half a dozen armed police officers swarmed in the front door (holstered sidearms only) as several more ran around the sides of the house. They later called for more backup as the house was larger than your average state-house drug lab. I got the impression that they’d never had to raid a middle-class suburban house like mine before. Everyone on the property was detained, read their rights, and questioned separately. I opted to call a lawyer who advised me to refuse to answer any questions.
What were the police looking for? A magazine for a “.22RL lever action rifle. Blued metal, brown wooden stock.” He provided a photo of it:
(Dieuwe de Boer/Public testimony)
De Boer, a member of a gun club, had referred to this rifle in his written testimony against the New Zealand gun law:
I have uploaded to my website an image of my .22 calibre lever-action rifle, a low- calibre replica of the famous 19th century cowboy gun (“the gun that won the west”). If this bill is passed, this gun will become a prohibited firearm as the tubular magazine holds the industry standard of 15 cartridges. My .22 calibre semi-automatic would likely remain legal as it uses 10 cartridge detachable magazines. This is just one small example of how bad this bill is.
Now De Boer wonders if written testimony about guns will be used against you by police.
Asked and answered:
The officer told me I had posted about it online, which I had—in my public written submission against the Firearms Amendment Act passed last year. That submission was shared on several blogs and social media. I had used the firearm as an example to prove the legislation was not targeting “military style assault weapons” as the media, prime minister, and her cabinet repeated ad nauseum. The vast majority of firearms affected by the legislation were just like mine.
He says the cops didn’t find the gun or magazine because neither was in his home.
Yes, the rumours are true. I was the one who got raided because the police were looking for a .22LR lever action rifle….
Posted by Dieuwe de Boer on Thursday, January 9, 2020
The activist said he lives a very conservative life and has never urged people not to comply with the gun confiscation. He wonders if the police were making an example of him. Wonder no more. That goes for you, too, Virginia.
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