SEAN DAVIE AGAINST NZ HERALD

The NZ Herald published an article on 9 April 2024, headlined Columbine massacre victim’s father issues warning as NZ Government looks at bringing back semi-automatics.

The article reported the comment from the father of a US school shooting victim about the new coalition NZ Government plans for a major shake-up of New Zealand’s gun laws. It also reported comment by Associate Minister of Justice (firearms) Nicolle McKee as well as Labour and Green Party spokespeople.

Sean Davie complained the story misled readers by omitting facts, was unbalanced and continued the demonisation of legal firearms license holders.

He says the article raised claims about Nicolle McKee misleading the public around the number of people with a licence that would be allowed access to banned semi-automatic firearms. Mr Davie says while pistols were the most often used weapon in school shootings in the US, he could not find a single instance where a legally obtained pistol had been used in a school shooting. It was also wrong to cite the Christchurch mosque terrorist as an example of what could happen as police did not follow procedure when Brenton Tarrant was issued a license.

The NZ Herald defended its story saying that as the coalition Government was considering amendments to the firearms laws it was entirely reasonable for it to seek varied perspectives on what changes could mean.

The article correctly summarised the circumstances in which Brenton Tarrant was able to obtain and modify firearms. This was well-established by various inquiries into the mosque shootings.

The article contextualised the current debate in relation to Nicole McKee's public statements on reviewing the Arms Act, which included her commitment to a "robust public consultation process".

The article included the correct numbers on how many licence holders could fire a semi-automatic.

The NZ Herald said Mr Davie could be assured there was no "certain narrative" at play here. Gun law reform was an issue of significant public interest and balance could be achieved over a range of articles.

The Media Council considers this to be a standard news story reporting the opinion of a man who lost his son in the Columbine shooting and then going on to report on plans to review New Zealand’s Arms Act. It also reported Ms McKee’s commitment to review and rewrite the law and opposition criticism.

Mr Davie raised some points that are not mentioned in the article but there is no requirement for stories on any subject to cover all issues that might be raised. As for balance the article did not go into detail on proposals for change but the associate minister and opposition figures were all given the opportunity to comment.

The Media Council could find no basis for a complaint that the story breached requirements for publications to be accurate, fair and balanced. 

There were no grounds to proceed.