A group representing small business owners wants boys and girls as young as 11 years old to be held criminally responsible for all serious crimes.
The call was made at a meeting last night, amid a crime spree shop keepers say is out of control.
The final straw was a brutal attack on a lone shop keeper in Otahuhu two nights ago, over little more than a bottle of spirits, and in December, the man's brother-in-law was also targeted at his own business.
The case of unrestrained and unprovoked violence, mainly by teenagers, has prompted shop keepers to come together.
"I think for the first time, the community as a whole is feeling insecure," community leader Ajit Singh Randhawa says.
"We do face all these problems every day. The offenders come to the shops, they shop lift, they come with weapons," liquor store owner Narinder Singnai told Newshub.
"There is no fear of the police to these offenders," Mr Singnai says.
The group is calling for harsher penalties, clarification of self-defence laws, and they want young criminals to pay the price.
Sunny Kaushal says it's time for change, because as it presently stands; 10- or 11-year-olds cannot be prosecuted for a crime unless they kill someone.
"We are here to force the Government to review and make the necessary changes in the laws," Mr Kaushal told Newshub.
The Government's considering new rules for Youth Court judges which it says will mean more young people who commit serious crimes will be treated as adults.
For the past four days, Newshub has asked Associate Justice Minister Mark Mitchell for an interview, but he says he's too busy.
In a statement, he acknowledges there's been an increase in serious offending involving young people, but says youth crime overall is actually trending down.
Newshub.
