Musket Wars - Prohibition Measures

Prohibition Measures

From 1845 after the rebellion of Hone Heke, the government enacted a number of laws to attempt to slow or stop the flow of muskets, gunpowder and other warlike stores into New Zealand. The first was the Arms, Gunpowder and other Warlike Stores Act. 13 Dec 1845. On 12 November 1846 the Arms Ordinance was passed. This was followed by the Gunpowder Ordinance Act August 1847. Penalties were severe with fines of 100-200 pounds for selling a musket to a native in 1848. These laws combined to put a stop to gunrunners selling muskets to Maori. To undermine the law the sellers spread rumours that it was a government plot to disarm Maori. Some chiefs however such as Tamati Ngapora of Ngati Mahuta at Mangere wanted the law passed in April 1856, to stop Maori killing each other. In June 1857 the government passed a law allowing people to have guns and powder for sporting purposes. This appears to have opened a flood of firearms into Maori communities. In November 1857, Lt Colonel Wynyard wrote to Governor Brown expressing his concern that this was allowing large quantities of weapons going to Maori, far beyond what was required for sporting purposes. He expressed concern that iwi would use the weapons to settle tribal squabbles with arms. Te Whero whero, the first Maori king, came to see to the governor at the same time and expressed his concern that so many weapons could be sold to volatile Maori. A Maori veteran of the Battle or Orakau 1864, told Members of Parliament that Maori had been collecting large quantities of weapons for years prior to the battle to protect their land against other tribes, not with the intention of fighting Europeans. After the Land Wars the government passed the Firearms Amendments Act 1869 making it illegal for any person to sell weapons to a Maori in rebellion. The only punishment was the death sentence.