There are renewed calls for the Government to crack down on firearms and police to be armed after two shootings in New Zealand within 24 hours.
Police engaged in a shoot-out in the Hamilton suburb of Hillcrest on Wednesday night where the offender was shot by police and later died.
Less than 24 hours later, police were called to an incident in Auckland's Penrose where an individual had stolen a vehicle, attempted to carjack other cars, and held two people at gunpoint before being shot by police.
Police Association president Chris Cahill told Newshub the organisation has been discussing the issue of criminals' access to firearms for several years, but now it's becoming more evident.
"Far too many firearms are available out there to criminals and now they are using them and the public are now getting caught up in the middle of it... We've seen the criminals with those firearms but now the public are seeing them using them."
The two shootings also come as the trial of Eli Bob Sauni Epiha, who shot and killed Constable Matthew Hunt during a routine traffic stop in west Auckland last year, kicks off.
Epiha has pleaded guilty to his murder, as well as to dangerous driving causing injury after fleeing police and hitting a pedestrian on Reynella Dr that same day.
Cahill told Newshub the latest shootings had caused a "tipping point" and there are renewed calls for police officers to be armed.
"Clearly, the death of Matthew shows how serious the issue is. But when you've got three significant events in less than a week, it shows it isn't a one-off, it's starting to become almost common. That's not what we want New Zealand to be.
"A number of members have come to me today and said it's time [for police to be armed]... there is this feeling of inevitability that that's what we are going to have to deal with. It's not a matter of want, it's a matter of need. Unless we can get these firearms out of the hands of criminals there doesn't seem to be an easy answer otherwise."
Cahill said the Police Association is also exploring a new deployment model for firearm situations.
"[It] allows all highly-trained specialist police with access to firearms to deploy more easily, especially in the main metropolitan centres. Rather than just young frontline cops with limited training, more specialist trained staff who can attend these incidents quicker."
However there is a strong opposition to the arming of police with concerns it will escalate gun violence in a way which will disproportionately affect Māori and Pasifika.
A six-month trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) was launched by police in October 2019, which were designed to respond more quickly to shooters in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack.
However Police commissioner Andrew Coster confirmed they would not be continued following the trial following widespread outrage over the proposal.
A petition delivered to Parliament pleading for the ARTs to be removed received more than 29,000 signatures.