The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) has released survey results (here) showing extremely low levels of confidence in Police administration of the Arms Act. While the findings will not surprise many within the firearms community, they should prompt a broader discussion about the relationship between regulators and those they regulate.
Whether one agrees with every position advanced by COLFO is not the point. The more significant issue is that effective regulation depends heavily upon trust. Regulations are most successful when compliance is largely voluntary and when those affected believe rules are being applied fairly, consistently and without prejudice. Once confidence begins to erode, every decision becomes contested and every new proposal attracts suspicion.
This principle extends well beyond firearms ownership. Recreational fishers expect confidence in fisheries management. Hunters expect confidence in conservation management. Landowners expect confidence in property rights and environmental regulation. In each case, the durability of the system depends not only on the rules themselves but on confidence in the institutions administering them.
Many outdoor recreation groups have become increasingly wary of assurances that powers will be used sparingly or that concerns are misplaced. Experience teaches that legislation often outlives the circumstances that created it. Governments change, officials change and priorities change. As a result, people tend to focus less on promises and more on the powers being granted.
Trust is difficult to build and remarkably easy to lose. Once confidence breaks down, restoring it requires more than public relations campaigns or official statements. It requires transparency, consistency and a willingness to engage seriously with those affected by regulatory decisions.
CORANZ represents a wide range of outdoor recreation interests, including hunters, anglers, trampers and campers. Those groups do not always agree on every issue, but they share a common interest in fair process, accountable decision-making and institutions that retain public confidence.
The issue is not whether regulation should exist. It is whether those expected to comply with it retain confidence in the people and organisations responsible for administering it. Without that confidence, regulation becomes increasingly difficult regardless of how well intentioned the rules may be.
