Daniel Hutchinson From The Hutch

I'm not sure if anyone else is feeling the same way, but the High Court decision on the legality of the MIQ process seems just a tad bit late.

Refusing Kiwis entry into their own country always seemed like a tenuous legal prospect, highlighted by the ridiculous situation with pregnant journalist Charlotte Bellis – stuck in Afghanistan, of all places, and unable to win the MIQ lottery.

New Zealand citizens are this country's responsibility and leaving them to languish in other countries seems a bit like a sentence without a trial. If you have outstayed your welcome in someone else's country, what option have you got but to return home?

Nevertheless, after two years of quarantines, the muddled MIQ method is now a thing of the past – an irritating memory for many travellers and a thing of nightmares for others.

It had its place, but it was batty as a badger by the end.

Sucking lemons

So, Justice Jillian Mallon's decision this week would have been met with some wry faces from those most affected. Nice to know you're right, but not much help now.

Justice Mallon found that although MIQ was an important part of the Government's elimination strategy, the virtual lobby and tight emergency criteria may have infringed on some New Zealanders' rights to enter their country.

I guess the decision is better late than never because it will hopefully help if the situation ever repeats itself, which it may well do.

But the other expression that springs to mind is one that was popularised by US Rear Admiral and computer scientist Grace Hopper and seems to have been incorporated into politics these days.

'I always tell young people: ‘Go ahead and do it.

'You can always apologise later'.”

Dr Hopper had some brilliant one-liners, which also seem to have got incorporated into the MIQ doctrine.

'The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's simply larger than it needs to be.”

'If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you've just proven a natural law!”

And one that obviously wasn't used was: 'If it isn't bolted down, bring it home”.

Taking aim

Speaking of rules that rile people up, Bay of Plenty gun club members are fair fizzing at the bolt hole over new regulations put forward for consultation by the NZ Police this month.

In a joint statement, eight clubs around the region say the rules amount to a lot of extra compliance cost and threaten the very existence of the smaller clubs. One rule would require even the person making the tea to have a firearm licence, because every member of a club must have one – whether they shoot or not.

This sounds a bit crazy but I actually knew someone who was such a bad aim with the hot water that they missed the tea cup entirely and poured the water straight onto their bare foot.

It was a nasty burn that took ages to heal, so I can kind of see where the authorities are going with that.

A shot in the dark

However, gun club members are not amused at the plethora of new rules – which are supposed to make life safer for everyone following the mosque shootings.

Eight Bay of Plenty clubs have stated: if adopted, the new rules and compliance costs could force smaller clubs and those unable to pass on the extra costs to its members to permanently close their ranges and disband.

The clubs argue that people go there because shooting ranges are a safe and controlled environment in which to learn how to safely use their firearms, improve their skills and to sight-in their rifles.

Obviously, the safest thing to hit is your target when you are out hunting. The alternative is to go stumbling through the bush and hopefully pick it up as you go along.

Making new rules like these requires a fair amount of consultation, otherwise they could end up having the opposite effect.

Six weeks of consultation during the height of the hunting season – The Roar – seems a bit light given the seriousness of the subject.

It's not one of those things you want to be asking for forgiveness for, after the fact.