All we do is send him back to his last port of call, failing that we can issue him with a temporary NZ passport.

And as I understand it the people he supposedly fleeing from have told him he is safe to return home, that he chooses to stay here is strange behavior for a man who is apparently missing his family.

http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/?q=node/4212
jh

Some idiot was causing a commotion. Swearing at the top of his voice - possibly high on something. The police were called. He continued. “Nazis…racists…this is a library!” - shouting at the top of his voice. There was a scuffle. Library shelves went flying. They arrested him. It took four police officers five minutes to just get handcuffs on this guy. Even then he was kicking and thrashing as he was escorted out, reminding everyone, loudly, of his rights and how put upon he was . The police showed a great deal of restraint. They didn’t use a Taser.

I would have….

I think we’re mostly in agreement on the principles here. I’m not trying to argue for unlimited use of force for self defense - there are obvious limits, such as stopping the use of force when the threat is no longer present, and using no more force than is necessary to prevent the attack without further endangering the victim.

Why I raise the point about the dangers of the use of force is to point out that the victim should be under no obligation to use less effective means in order to reduce the risk to the assailant - because to do so would be increasing the risk to the victim. If the victim chooses to do so, that’s up to him or her - and there are many scenarios when I personally would make that choice, just as there are many scenarios where I would not.

As far as the effectiveness of Tasers vs. handguns - there are a few issues with them that can significantly reduce their effectiveness. Things like layers of clothing and drug use can reduce the effectiveness of a Taser. Plus with the ranged devices, you only get one shot; not so useful if you miss, or if you are faced with multiple assailants.

Personally, I’d like it if Tasers were legal for civilian use & carry; it would be nice if there was something on the market that presented another step in the force spectrum in-between striking weapons like kubotans, and blade weapons like knives.

However, it simply isn’t true that Tasers are as effective at stopping attacks as firearms.

The Greens do even better than poll their members - the members actually make the policies. Each policy area goes out to the entire membership for between 2 and 4 membership consultation and feedback rounds. The objective is to get a consensus from the membership on the policy. This doesn’t necessarily mean everyone agreeing (that would be an impossibility in any political party), but does mean no-one disagreeing sufficiently strongly that they will block the consensus. Very rarely a provincial vote will occur on a policy issue to resolve an issue where no consensus can be achieved.

I don’t care where he goes as long as he is kicked out of our country immediately.