MEDIA RELEASE
SECOND AFFIDAVIT CONFIRMS POLICE REGISTER NOT SECURE
MONDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2020
There has been confirmation today that multiple people accessed the Police register late last year that stored addresses and other confidential information about the owners of prohibited firearms.
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has released an affidavit from an additional person who accidentally obtained access.
The affidavit devastates Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s claim at the time that the breach should be ‘kept in perspective’ because only one person accessed the website. It re-ignites questions of how safe a full firearm register could ever be, the reliability of Police claims at the time, and of the results of a promised investigation into how the original flaw occurred.
COLFO spokesperson Nicole McKee says the affidavit means multiple people did access the register, which shifts the focus onto whether an online database of firearms could be secure.
“I want to commend the bravery of the person behind this affidavit. Many of the others that told us they saw firearm registration details were scared by the vindictive and legalistic Police reaction. They feared they may be prosecuted for accidentally accessing private data.
“Now we have multiple testimony, we can turn to the real issue; the fallibility of an online register of firearms.
“Police promised an investigation of how the breach happened. Three months later there has been no explanation. This leaves the Prime Minister and Minister of Police defending an indefensible system and planning to turn this breakable database into one listing the location of every firearm in New Zealand.”
