You will have seen that the Arms Legislation Bill may soon be back before the House for its third reading. If it passes then it will become law.

The NZDA delivered, an maintains, a strong message of opposition to the proposed Bill and its provisions. We submitted a detailed written document and presented our views in person before the Select Committee. For your information, a copy of NZDA’s written submission is attached, dated 18 October 2019.

NZDA’s key points are:

• the Arms Legislation Bill, as it presently stands, cannot be supported by the NZDA.
• there are parts which are unreasonable, illogical, punitive and overly bureaucratic. Worse, there are worrying inclusions which are ill-defined, undemocratic, breach human rights and hand police too much power without proper oversight or appeal.
• the Bill focusses heavily on enforcing the compliance of law-abiding licenced hunters and firearms owners and their organisations yet does relatively little to address the illegal use and possession of firearms by criminals.
• the Bill fails to recognise or acknowledge the social, cultural, economic and conservation benefits that come from hunting and responsible firearm use.
• the above concerns must be addressed and the offending clauses removed or modified to ensure New Zealanders’ civil liberties are properly acknowledged and protected, then the NZDA could support the majority of the new law’s objectives.
• NZDA believes that in the wake of the first round of changes to arms laws in early 2019 in response to the Christchurch massacres, any further changes should have waited until the Royal Commission into the tragedy had finished its work and reported back. This would have allowed a more considered, fully informed and properly measured response.
• NZDA believes a better law will result from proper consultation with firearm owners, hunters and the wider community. This will provide a cooperative environment in which informed decisions can be made, united in a common purpose. Unfortunately, this has not happened and the opportunity to have a law which enjoys the support and cooperation of firearm owners has been squandered.
• NZDA is of the view that a good law encourages and assists compliance, rather than oppressing, alienating and unreasonably regulating significant parts of the community. Unfortunately, the overall punitive nature of the Arms Legislation Bill as it is presently worded appears designed to specifically target the law abiding by dramatically increasing the bureaucracy and cost of getting and holding a firearms licence while introducing new barriers all with no demonstrable improvement in public safety.
• Section 6 is particularly onerous for shooting clubs and will impact all our Branches and members negatively. A good law should help firearm owners join a club so they can learn safe firearm handling and practice their skills in a controlled and disciplined environment. Instead, this Bill seeks to impose heavy and costly controls on clubs, and indeed anyone who allows a person to practice with their rifle or allow it to be sighted in on their property. It undermines the efforts of shooting clubs, like NZDA Branches, to train people in safe firearm handling to ensure their and public safety.

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