The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) has welcomed the Government’s Arms Act rewrite discussion document, and says the public submissions will show New Zealanders want sensible upgrades to the country’s gun laws.
COLFO spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack has spent the past few weeks encouraging firearms owners to submit, and says hunters, sports shooters, and farmers all welcome the rewrite.
“Many agree that the Act has become too complicated, after successive Governments introduced hasty amendments to combat gun crime.”
“The reality is that none of it worked, and gun crime is still on the rise.”
“It didn’t work because the purpose of the Arms Act is to regulate the safe use and ownership of firearms in New Zealand. It was never intended to be a crimefighting tool, and we’re glad this Government has recognised that.”
Devereux-Mack says most firearm owners agree that the law can better treat people as responsible adults and honour the ‘fit and proper’ description afforded to those with a license.
COLFO wants the definition of a ‘fit and proper’ person to be specified in the Act, to provide greater consistency and clarity when assessing licenses. Currently, whether a person is deemed fit and proper, or not, is entirely at the whim of Police.
“Despite having been deemed fit and proper, many firearm owners feel Police still treat them with contempt and suspicion.
“I’ve been told many times that firearms owners feel they are one small mistake away from losing their ability to hunt for food or participate in their favourite sport.
“Some are even afraid to confess mental health issues to their doctor, for fear of losing their license.”
In 2022, Police apologised to a Rotorua man after threatening to revoke his firearms license following a speeding offence. Police can also revoke licenses if someone has unmanaged physical or mental health issues that mean they are not ‘fit and proper’.
COLFO’s 2024 survey of license holders showed rock-bottom trust in Police across the country.
“This rewrite is about creating law that is easy for firearms owners to trust, understand, and abide by,” says Devereux-Mack.
“It’s about rebuilding that vital relationship between firearm owners and the state, which makes every New Zealander safer.”
At the same time, Devereux-Mack says licensed firearm owners join every other New Zealander in supporting increased punishment for those who use firearms to do harm in our communities.
“We look forward to the Government introducing new, separate laws to come down harder on those who do use firearms to break the law.”
Submissions on the discussion document close at the end of this month. COLFO has developed a submission guide to help firearm owners interpret the discussion document and encourages anyone with questions to get in touch.
For further information contact COLFO Spokesperson: Hugh Devereux-Mack. 027 362 0853
Hugh Devereux-Mack
THIS ARMS ACT REWRITE SIMPLY MUST HAPPEN. THE CHANGES THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO MAKE NEW ZEALANDERS SAFER .. HAVE DONE EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE. CRIMINAL MISUSE OF FIREARMS HAS GONE UP, NOT DOWN.
Thomas Jefferson .. in his inaugural speech as U.S. President on March 4, 1801 .. said:
“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.“
Around quarter of a million people were unfairly and unreasonably persecuted by the last government’s rushed law changes, following the 2019 mosque shootings.
This is a very large group of people .. who hold many millions of dollars worth of recreational assets .. spend into the hundreds of millions of dollars per annum in the domestic economy .. contribute millions of hours of effectively voluntary, vital, wild introduced species population management annually .. harvesting Into the millions of such critters each and every year.
All of which would otherwise be a huge cost to ratepayers and taxpayers all around the country.
In the meantime, following the rushed and ineffective law changes, firearms crime in New Zealand has gone up not down!
The large group of New Zealanders who hold a Firearms Licence .. and have been alienated by having been so greviously wronged .. deserve redress.
We are relying upon the Arms Act rewrite to deliver that redress.
IT SIMPLY HAS TO HAPPEN!
As that legend of NZ hunting Newton McConochie’s book title stated “You’ll learn no harm from the hills”; the gupment shd be doing everything it can to promote such a positive outdoor activity, one that as Stewart Hyde states above, helps manage animal populations all the while saving the gupment millions. All that and the positive effect of people strengthening bonds of friendship and coming to care deeply for the wild parts of country. I have much sympathy for the argument made in the USA that “gun control” efforts have to include how mental health is dealt at a general societal level with (or not dealt with as is the case now). Being given a handful of pills and being told to live in the community is a failed experiment.
Bang on Stewart.
What a lot of fear mongering and injustices the Ardern/Hipkins Labour /Greens/Te Pati Maori government stirred up against lawabiding, firearm owning public. Perhaps just part of their overall style to “divide and conquer” the people.
Questions around the mosque shooting have yet to be answered.
That aside, compliments to Nicole McKee and the ACT party for their firearm reforms.
So many people have worked tirelessly for years to get us this chance. We cannot waste the opportunity to finally get sensible firearm laws and fix the mess Ardern created.