Random auditing of firearms licences will begin nationwide next month, following a recommendation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority that the issuing of licences be reviewed.
Shayne Sime, a paraplegic, was shot dead by police last year after spraying the Christchurch street where he lived with shotgun pellets and bullets, injuring an officer and a neighbour.
The police assistant commissioner, Grant Nicholls, says the random auditing system was implemented in Canterbury in response to concerns that Mr Sime, who had a head injury, should not have been given a licence. Next month it will go nationwide.
Application found to have been deficient
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) says Mr Sime should not have been given a licence. It says his application for one was deficient and minimised his disability and head injury.
One of his referees was worried about his suitability to hold a licence and recommended his mother be interviewed - a suggestion not carried out.
The arms officer who considered Mr Sime's application was sufficiently doubtful to write a report referring the application to the area commander, but it was not sent.
The authority says that, while the officer's actions did not amount to misconduct, the training given to such officers should be reviewed.
Officers 'acted appropriately'
The IPCA has found however that officers acted appropriately and lawfully defending themselves and the public when Mr Sime was shot dead.
Wadhurst Place in Burnside, where he lived, was peppered with 100 shotgun cartridges and 12 bullets from a high-calibre rifle, and an officer and a neighbour were hit.
Police were preparing to fire teargas into his house when he emerged to aim at them. They fired 18 shots; five hit him.
The authority also recommends that radio communications between officers during such incidents be recorded.
Mr Nicholls says the stand-off was very difficult, both operationally and emotionally. Officers did everything they could to resolve the situation peacefully, he says.
