Gun City ordered to stop claiming it is the ‘world’s largest gun store’

The billboard claimed Gun City was the "World's largest gun shop".

An advertising watchdog has ordered an arms store to remove a misleading billboard that boasted it was the world’s largest gun shop.

Gun City in Papanui, Christchurch, was brought before the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a complaint was made about the advertisement.

The billboard, which sat on the back of a vehicle parked on Cranford St, featured an arrow pointing punters toward the “world’s largest gun shop”.

An unidentified complainant suggested to the ASA that what Gun City claimed was unlikely to be true.

“As you can see the words ‘Largest gun shop’ on the billboard. I would think this was unlikely to be true. Can you please ask Gun City to correct?” the complainant wrote.

According to the ASA’s recent ruling on the matter, Gun City defended the claim, stating it was based on “years of research”, which included visits to “any shop which we believe may come close to ours”.

They said it was not claiming to be the biggest shop in the world that sells guns, but rather the largest gun shop based on the area dedicated to the sale, display and storage of guns for retail sale.

“We measure the size of the footage in wall space, rack space, counter space and floor space dedicated to the sale of shotguns and rifles,” their response stated.

“I have personally travelled to 64 countries and visited the large gun shops in these countries. As I write this I am travelling back from the largest European gunshow, ‘IWA’, in Germany and visited large shops in Germany, Denmark and Sweden.

“The large shops in the USA sell guns and many other products, even boats, so they are larger. We correctly state that we are the largest gun shop based on the area dedicated to the sale, display and storage of guns for retail sale.”

In its evaluation of the complaint, the ASA’s Complaints Board considered the principle of truthful presentation from the Advertising Standards Code.

It referred to precedent decisions including print and radio advertisements for the Bride and Groom Show which claimed to be “New Zealand’s largest wedding expo” and “the largest wedding show in New Zealand,” which was not upheld, and a Canoe & Kayak Bay of Plenty print advertisement, which included the claim “largest range”, which was upheld.

The authority noted that while Gun City had provided some evidence to support their claim, a more robust and quantifiable measurement such as comparative retail floor space and the number of products for sale was required for an absolute claim like “world’s largest gun shop”.

The Complaints Board unanimously agreed the advertisement was misleading and ordered it not to be used again in its current form.

The company’s website, however, continues to state it is “the world’s largest gun store”.

Gun City did not respond to NZME’s request for comment.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.