Second Round of Firearm Legislation Changes

Nicole and I have spent the last few hours with the lawyers going over the final version of our submission on the Arms Legislation Amendment Bill — the Government’s second tranche of firearms law changes.

You can read the full submission here (I’ve also copied a summary of the submission to the end of this email).

The Bill introduces an onerous firearms register, halves the period of a licence, will hike fees, and introduces new rules and restrictions on arms and ammo. It also hands enormous and discretionary regulatory power to the Police and in our view will undermine the mutual trust and confidence between the Police and responsible firearms owners, which New Zealand has historically enjoyed. 

As you will see, the lawyers have spent many long days over the last two weeks to ensure that our arguments are presented persuasively and the full effects of the proposed law changes are laid bare. After reading the full submission it leaves you with an impression that the Bill is a result of Government determined to ostracise, rather than work constructively with, responsible firearms owners.

Some extracts:

This Bill is far more reprehensible after close study than was feared from the Government announcements. But among the disappointments is that it has not taken the opportunity to fix obvious problems from the rushed Arm (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 [the Amendment Act]. That Act was made in a climate of political excitement. It did not follow good legislative processes. It did not benefit from proper consultation. This Bill gives the Committee the opportunity to fix these issues now.

This Bill contains significant increases to penalties for existing and new offences. … We are not aware of any evidence that should have persuaded the government that these increases will do anything to deter unsafe firearm use. It is likely to have the opposite effect – it will make criminals out of those people who in all other aspects have been law abiding citizens, generally ready and willing to support the Police and to play their part in reporting and deterring crime in their communities.

On the compensation and buyback:

We think the current approach is catapulting prohibited weapons into the unlawful sector. … No evidence has been put forward by the government to explain why the rates of compensation seem deliberately set to punish firearm owners. … The Government cannot complain if owners generally see as a denunciation, an approach that they are inherently wrongdoers. Such hostility does not build “trust and confidence.”

We need your help to make sure the message is heard in Wellington

Our lawyers tell us that the best way to ensure the submission is well-considered, is to ensure a very large number of people are willing to endorse or support the submission, and (ideally) make their own submission putting similar points into their own words.

(1) Add your name to the COLFO submission

Those groups who want to see even more restrictions and prohibitions are organising to get people outside the firearms community to submit in support of the Bill’s provisions.

That’s why we are asking you to visit our website and add your name to the submission before we submit it to the Select Committee on 23 October.

–> Add name in support of the submission <–

(2) Make your own submission

Personal submissions are the most powerful tool you can use to convince MPs to dump the onerous provisions in this Bill – or at the very least defer the close of submissions until after the Christchurch Royal Commission has reported back.

Our lawyers have created a series of guidance papers on the various aspects of the Bill.  If you agree that standing up for the rights of lawful firearms owners is important, please take a few minutes to put the points into your own words and file your own submissions.  You can read the guidance on how to make a submission here.

Thank you for your support.