The Sporting Shooters Association of New Zealand calls for caution when relying on Gun Control New Zealand's (GCNZ) most recent report, particularly when it comes to conclusions made about licensed gun owners based on the survey data provided by Horizon Research.

The data for 'gun owners' is concerning because it implies that 'gun owners' have a gun in their possession regardless of whether they are licensed or not. It would also mean that people who don't have a gun but are licensed would fall outside the 'gun owner' classification.

Supporting this point that the 'gun owner' data isn't solely populated with lawful gun owners, is that four individuals in the sample say they are 'not sure' if they are gun owners or not. We would like Gun Control NZ to explain a situation where a survey participant can be 'not sure' of if they are a 'gun owner' or not.

The 'rather not say' sample casts further doubt on whether survey participants are gun owners through lawful means or not, numbering between 29 and descending to 25 throughout the survey.

Whilst we acknowledge that privacy and information security are of utmost importance to every license holder in New Zealand, the motivations behind a participant not indicating if they are a 'gun
owner' or not may not align with that of a licensed firearm owner.

We have grave concerns that licensed firearms owners are not the only individuals included in the 'gun owner' group and this will adversely impact the integrity of the data and conclusions drawn from it.

Another weakness of this survey is that Gun Control NZ has marketed its findings as indicating the attitudes of the gun-owning population in New Zealand.

The survey, assuming that all who did not select 'no' to being a gun owner, contains between 142 and 136 gun owners. Assuming then that these individuals are all licensed, would mean that 0.06 percent of the approximate 240,000 firearms license holders in New Zealand responded to the survey.

This is hardly a proportionate sample of the licensed firearm-owning community for the conclusions being drawn by GCNZ.

It appears GCNZ has jumped the gun on this survey, and we advise caution when drawing conclusions using their data.

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