A visual illustration of an application of the Swiss cheese model to improve firearms safety. Photo: Supplied
The government is currently asking for public input on its overhaul of the Arms Act, with consultation closing in less than two week's time.
A new Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC) briefing out this morning pitches a type of cheese as the best way to prevent firearm injuries and deaths.
The 'Swiss cheese model' is a metaphor used in risk analysis that literally looks like thin slices of yellow, holey cheese lined up in front of one another.
The general analogy follows that the more slices (policy tools) there are, the less likely a systems failure has a clear pathway through all of the regulation.
Researcher and Gun Control NZ co-founder Philippa Yasbek said the model was used to manage accident risk for plane crashes and pandemics, and could also be applied to firearms regulation.
"What it says is that in the goal of reducing harms, deaths and injuries there are multiple things that can go wrong and you don't just use one policy tool or one protection to prevent harms.
"You need a layered approach, where you've got lots and lots of different policy tools. None of them are particularly perfect but if you stack up enough of them you will prevent most most harms and most injuries and deaths."
The PHCC briefing paper - co-written with another researcher Lucy Telfar-Barnard - includes a visual illustration of the Swiss cheese model being applied to firearms regulation, with licensing, a gun registry, safe storage and a ban on semi-automatic firearms as separate slices.
Yasbek said it was hard to tell if any one particular firerarms policy was effective in the US but the states that had the most firearms regulations, or cheese slices, had 20 per cent lower mortality rates.
"So you've got to think about sets of policies rather than individual policies and the Australians have demonstrated this very well in preventing mass shootings.
"They had quite a number of mass shootings happening in Australia in the lead up to Port Arthur tragedy and then for almost 20 years after that, they didn't have any because of the law changes they made."
The briefing paper has been published as the coalition has its Arms Act rewrite out for public consultation.
Everything is on the table and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said safety is her top priority.
"What we're really needing from the public is what's working, what's not working, what do they think needs changing, because we're hearing from so many people that there's aspects that are over-regulated, that have no rapport at all to do with the public safety and we do want people to comply and be able to comply with the Arms Act."
Although the rewrite of this piece of legislation - part of National's coalition agreement with ACT - is significant, it's attracted a lot less public engagement than the likes of the Treaty Principles Bill.
McKee turned to Facebook two weeks ago to promote public input, saying more than 200 people had made a submission but she was hearing feedback the 62-page consultation document was daunting.
In a short video, she encouraged people to give feedback anyway, clarifying they didn't have to give feedback on every section of questions about existing regulation.
"We just wanted to clarify that they could actually just answer the sections that that were appropriate to them, rather than having to go through the whole document," McKee told RNZ yesterday.
The Ministry of Justice has now received 534 submissions and McKee said she was comfortable keeping the allocated six week submission period, that ends 28 February.
"The general public's ability to be consulted on this will actually occur when the bill is produced after first reading and we get to select committee stage."
McKee said she was keeping an open mind about any changes to firearms regulation, including the Swiss cheese model.
"I'm always open to ideas and putting public safety first. Not sure if that model is appropriate for New Zealand but I will keep an open mind."
One of the 'cheese slices' proposed in this morning's research briefing is a ban on semi-automatics - something that's effectively been in place since the March 15 terror attacks with small carve outs for collectors and pest controllers.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wouldn't rule out liberalising access to military style firearms last year - a position which hasn't changed.
"We've got a process underway and we'll have a proper conversation about all of that but what I'm interested in, and I can tell you many of the ministers interested in, is how do we increase and improve public safety and also compliance."
RNZ asked people in Wellington and Christchurch for their thoughts on this effective ban being up for discussion again.
"I don't think that's the greatest idea, to not rule it out," a Christchurch woman said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," another said.
"As long as there's good controls around them. I think bad people are going to get guns regardless," another woman said.
"Oh my god... I'm a mental health nurse and I would like to think people went through some sort of psychiatric or psychological evaluation before being able to purchase guns," a Wellington woman said.
"That would be a horrible situation. It just doesn't make sense," a Wellington man said.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said keeping the effective ban on military style firearms was a no-brainer.
"I think it was a massive step forward for New Zealand to dramatically reduce the use of semi automatic firearms in New Zealand...and I think that the Prime Minister not being willing to stand behind that is a massive error of judgment from him, particularly given the National Party actually supported us taking that action at the time."
PHCC is an independent organisation hosted by the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago.
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