Figures released under the Official Information Act show firearms licence suspensions leaping from just 28 in 2019 to 1386 last year.
It is a similar story for firearms licences being reinstated after being suspended, jumping from just 10 in 2019 to 447 in 2023 – a 4370 per cent rise.
The staggering increases have resulted in accusations from lobby groups that the average Kiwi firearm owner has “become collateral damage in police’s pursuit to ensure licences are out of the hands of criminals and gang members”, said Thomas Hemphill of the Sporting Shooters Association.
NZ Police’s Firearms Safety Authority acting director of operations, Matt Boddy, said the increase is reflective of law changes and operational enhancements made following the 2019 Christchurch Mosque attacks - including allowing the temporary suspension of a firearms licence.
Boddy clarified that holders can appeal revocations internally first, through an independent assessor within the authority.
If the decision is upheld, a further appeal can be made through the court system.
The Sporting Shooters Association’s spokesman Hemphill said they are disappointed but not surprised by the numbers.
He believed it confirms concerns from members that police have taken a “guilty-until-proven-innocent approach” to suspension.
But he said his concern isn’t with the number of suspensions as such – but rather the large number that end up reinstated, and the burden it puts on licence-holders during that period.
The crackdown has followed the mosque attacks in Christchurch where 51 people were murdered on March 15, 2019. Photo / NZ Herald
Hemphill said the process can be costly – and he’s heard from some members who have spent upwards of $10,000 on lawyer fees if it went to the District Court.
He believes if the police’s current process was working, reinstatement numbers would be lower, and revocations higher.
When breaking down last year’s firearm licence suspensions, just over half were then revoked by the Firearms Safety Authority – and about a third were eventually reinstated.
Hemphill thinks that “it shows [the authority] are not really getting much success out of their suspensions, as far as finding people who aren’t fit and proper to have a licence”.
Council of Licenced Firearms Owners spokesman Hugh Devereux-Mack said when the authority was introduced, it brought a lot more people dedicated to finding opportunities to suspend, cancel or revoke licences.
“When you put more bureaucrats and set them to work, looking for problems, they’re going to find them,” he said.
Devereux-Mack said little changed around the requirements for firearms owners to be fit and proper people.
“The big reason for suspending a licence was police discretion, which says it was more about the police’s attitude towards firearms owners that changed and became more vindictive.”
Devereux-Mack believes a near third of suspended licences later being reinstated suggests police are “being a lot more heavy-handed with the revocation or the suspension process and taking a shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach”.
While Boddy acknowledged the lobbyists are entitled to their views, he reiterated the authority’s responsibility to provide safety outcomes for all citizens.
However, he did sympathise that the suspension period for a licence holder “can be quite a stressful and anxiety-inducing process to go through”.
Boddy believes the data importantly highlights that a suspension doesn’t always result in a firearms owner losing their licence.
He said the suspension period allows the holder to demonstrate why they should retain their licence.
Boddy said examples include situations where the holder has received a temporary suspension due to a specific person living with them, who has since moved out.
“When we issue a licence, it isn’t a one-and-done approach,” he said.
He believed full context of the data is needed, to understand how police approach suspensions of a firearm.
Every day, officers receive a daily report highlighting each licence holder who has come to police attention within the last 24 hours – whether that be a witness, victim, or offender.
That list averages about 60 names, which the resolutions team then “think critically about the risk they may pose to public safety”, and the necessary course of action.
Boddy said that could range from improvement notices, warnings, suspensions, revocations – or no action required at all.
He said in March more than 1400 people appeared on the list in total.
Just 10 per cent resulted in suspensions, and 70 per cent of people saw no further action.
Boddy reiterated that police don’t want to be taking licences off people – but rather to work alongside holders.
He said officers understand the importance of firearms to many in the community – whether that be for farmers, pest control or simply “to hunt and gather to put food on the table”.
Boddy said the authority would like to see the number of licence suspensions and revocations reduce in coming years.
“Five per cent of our population are licence holders, and we want to work with them - and ensure that they still have the ability to use firearms in a safe and responsible way.”
He said equally, that police “never lose sight of the fact 95 per cent of the population are not licence holders” and they want to ensure safety for the whole country.
