Napier MP Chris Tremain says Wairoa needs to move from passive tolerance to doing something about its gang problem.
Police say it was a miracle no-one was hurt when shots were fired near a crowd by a Mongrel Mob member after a rugby match on Saturday.
Detectives have found the ute they believe the gun was fired from and have been talking to its occupants and the owner.
Mr Tremain, who has campaigned for a ban on gang patches in the Hawke's Bay town, says the firing of the gun was unacceptable and it is time the community stopped accepting this kind of behaviour.
But a long-serving Wairoa district councillor believes gang problems have reduced, despite Saturday's incident and a debate last year about banning patches.
Denys Caves says the gang problem was more evident in the 1970s and 80s than it is now, and he would be very surprised if most residents felt threatened.
Mr Caves opposed the ban on gang patches when the idea was debated by councillors. The proposal was not introduced.
Rival gangs at game
The game held at Lambton Square was between a Raupunga team that has Black Power connections and Tapuwai, which is aligned with the Mongrel Mob.
Senior Sergeant Tony Bates said the game had been mostly without incident - apart from a short scuffle on the sidelines between two rival gang members.
However, as people were leaving the ground at the end of the game, a white Nissan ute arrived with several Mongrel Mob members in the cab and on the tray.
Mr Bates said an argument developed between the people in the ute and others leaving the car park. A man in the back of the ute then fired four shots - some into the air and others towards the dispersing crowd.
Mr Bates said the shooting was reckless and extremely dangerous and innocent people in the crowd, including children, could have been killed.
Referee Neil Cook does not think the incident was linked to what happened during the match, which he described as a hard, but clean encounter with no one sin-binned.
Mr Cook said the shots were fired about half an hour after the final whistle when the crowd of about 300 spectators had reduced to about 30 or 40 people.
