Act leader David Seymour: NZ First not saviours but enablers of gun law changes

Act Party leader David Seymour was the only MP to opposed the first round of gun law reforms following the March 15 terror attacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Act leader David Seymour says it would be dishonest of NZ First to paint itself as helping licensed firearms owners because it enabled the gun law reforms from the outset.

A NZ First-Labour impasse over the Arms Legislation Bill has been settled and the stalled bill is now set to progress next week.

The bill would, among other things, create a national gun register and introduce tougher tests to be granted a firearms licence, including a blanket ban on all gang members.

The Government had wanted to pass the bill into law before the one-year anniversary of the March 15 terror attacks, but it stalled after concerns were raised by NZ First, and then because of the Covid crisis.

The Herald understands those issues have now been resolved and the bill is likely to pass in Parliament's next sitting block.

Neither Police Minister Stuart Nash nor NZ First MP Ron Mark, who has been leading his party's negotiations, would comment on any proposed changes to the bill.

In the bill's second reading, Mark supported an independent authority to relieve police of the duty of issuing firearms licences, and further exemptions for the use of certain firearms in rifle ranges, shooting competitions and for pest control.

Seymour has opposed the bill as well as its predecessor, which made most military-style semi-automatic firearms illegal in the weeks following the March 15 attack.

He was not aware of the result of the Nash-Mark negotiations, but said that he expected NZ First to paint itself as saviours.

"Whatever they achieve is going to be a backward step from the point of view of licensed firearms owners.

"To paint themselves as some sort of saviour when they're actually the ones that enabled the first and second tranche [of gun law reforms] - it's a ballsy move but not a very honest one."

Seymour has sought to make gun laws a differentiating issue for Act. He was the only MP to oppose the first tranche of reforms, and Act has highlighted the seven licensed firearms owners on its party list.

This week the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (Colfo) sent a message to its supporters asking for donations to help its campaign opposing the bill.

"We understand the second round of firearms law changes is going to be back before Parliament in the next two weeks," chairman Michael Dowling said.

"The fact it has been pushed back for so long suggests that the Government plans to use the law changes as part of its re-election campaign targeting voters in the big cities who don't understand rural communities. That is not a good sign.

"We have to be ready for what looks to be a campaign where the Government could have yet another go at licensed firearms owners – rather than focusing on the real criminals."