Christchurch terror attack – statement on the accused’s firearms licence application"

Please attribute to a Police spokesperson:

As part of our ongoing investigation into the Christchurch terror attack, we have made extensive enquiries into the process which saw the accused issued with a firearms licence.

In the interests of ensuring accuracy of information in the public domain, we can clarify the following:

Based on the information available to us at this time, we have found that correct process was followed by staff involved in the firearms licence application.

The accused filed an application for a firearms licence in September 2017 in Dunedin.

The vetting process was undertaken by a Police Firearms Vetting Officer in Dunedin, where the accused resided.

The accused initially listed a family member as one of his referees but that person did not reside in New Zealand.

Policy states that a referee must be a resident of New Zealand, therefore new referees were requested.

The accused provided two further referees who met the requirements of the process and were interviewed face to face by a Police Firearms Vetting Officer.

One of the steps to gaining a firearms licence is a home visit to meet the applicant in person and inspect the security of their property.

In October 2017 the accused was interviewed at his home address in Dunedin.

A security inspection took place at the same time.

Following this, all the available information was reviewed and the licence was approved in November 2017.

ENDS

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