In June 1857 the government passed a law allowing people to have guns and powder for sporting purposes, but in November that year 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 Wherowhero, 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.