'Rubbish' - Police Assn president slams ACT Party's gun policy

Police Association president Chris Cahill has hit out at the ACT Party's gun policy, saying the reasons behind it are "all rubbish".

It comes as a nationwide firearms registry is set to be rolled out from June 24.

The move will force owners to register their guns and details with the police, but ACT has said the party would repeal most of the registry with exceptions for pistols and restricted weapons.

Cahill told Breakfast the registry is "an incredibly important move".

"Over the next five years all firearms in New Zealand will be registered on the registry," he said. "The reality now is that I could go out and buy 100 firearms today, I could then on-sell them and no one would know, and I would not be accountable for those firearms.

"I think all New Zealanders can see the obvious safety measures of knowing where firearms are and that the owner has responsibility for ensuring they don't end up in the hands of criminals."

Cahill added he was "incredibly disappointed" with ACT's view.

"And I was very disappointed when I saw their reasons, which have all been debunked," he said. "They're all rubbish reasons.

"The reality is, they're doing this to get the votes of a few disgruntled firearms owners.

"And I'd say to them, are those votes worth the life of the dairy owner who's shot in a robbery? Or the innocent young child who's shot when a gang mistakes their house and shoots it up? Or the police officer like Matthew Hunt who's gunned down in the streets?"

ACT have said criminals would ignore the registry anyway, but Cahill stressed the registry would prevent licensed firearm owners from providing weapons to those criminals.

"It'll make a massive difference," he said. "You're saying that you have a gun registry for pistols and restricted weapons.

"If you believe it'll work for those, why won't it work for all weapons?"

ACT's firearms policy states it will balance "public safety, firearms control, and freedom".

"The Government's knee-jerk reaction to Christchurch has done nothing to keep people safe and prevent another tragedy," it reads.

"Only ACT has consistently supported the firearms community and spoken out against rushed, poor-quality law making."

Appearing later on Breakfast, the party's deputy leader Brooke van Velden responded to Cahill's criticism.

"If we want to crack down on crime and gun-related crime, which we should do, we've got to go after the gangs and illegal firearm activity," she said. "This policy only tells you where that gun was stolen from, it's not going to stop the crime."

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick backed the registry.

"It's about the fence at the top of the cliff," she said. "It's about, how do we prevent that diversion in the first place? How do we track it?

"How do we put in place systems that enable the best possible environment for people who are abiding by the law, but also prevent that downstream effect?"