The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners is welcoming a change in stance by the Government that will see licenced firearms owners given a 4-month extension to get their licences renewed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This measure is one of many that the Government has introduced as part of the Covid-19 Response (Further Management Measures) Legislation Bill.

COLFO spokesperson Nicole McKee says that while only a small number of licenced-holders will have found themselves needing to renew their licences during the Covid-19 alert level restrictions, the Government was addressing an important issue.

“In early April we called on the Government to extend firearms licences, just as they had done for vehicle licences. It is good to see that this message has got through and the Government is now taking action.”

COLFO made a submission to the Epidemic Response Committee on the Bill, which supported the extension and called for the committee to ensure licence fees were not increased.

“Members of our community have been concerned for some time that changes to licences would give politicians an excuse to increase fees. We would like to thank the Committee for considering our submission and recommending an extension for licence renewals without any fee increase.”

Prior to entering lockdown, COLFO had encouraged members of the licenced firearms community to seek licence renewals while they could. However, some may have been unable to do so before the country went into lockdown.

“Licenced firearms owners do not want to find themselves on the wrong side of the law due to bureaucratic oversight. They pride themselves as being law-abiding people.

“We welcome the Government’s common-sense change to extend the duration of firearms licences for members of our community who have found themselves in this difficult situation.”

The Bill is currently before Parliament and is expected to pass later today.

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