EXPLAINER
The National-Act coalition agreement has several commitments to reform gun laws, including rolling back regulations for shooting clubs and ranges, and reviewing the gun registry and the Arms Act. Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced the first changes yesterday.
What’s first out of the blocks?
The Government’s first 100-day plan included a commitment to “immediately begin to repeal and replace Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 relating to clubs and ranges”. Nothing much happened in that time beyond officials starting work on it.
Part 6 contains the regulations for shooting clubs and ranges, which was part of the second tranche of gun law reforms following the Christchurch terror attack, and which came into effect in June last year.
What did those changes do?
New Zealand has an estimated 240,000 licensed gun owners. As at April this year, there were 396 shooting clubs (93 pistol clubs and 303 non-pistol clubs) with up to 40,000 affiliated members, and 1184 individual shooting ranges (412 pistol shooting ranges run by pistol clubs, and 772 non-pistol shooting ranges).
Clubs and ranges were largely unregulated and had no police oversight, but that didn’t mean they were bad places - in fact, McKee said they improved public safety.
“Unfortunately it’s like people think if you belong to a club, you’re a Brenton Tarrant. But that’s not how they operate. They actually bring people together and make sure that people are using firearms lawfully and respectfully,” said McKee, a former spokeswoman for the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners.
“It’s important that licensed firearm owners have a place to go where they can get educated by people with knowledge, they learn about safe use, they learn about how to clean their firearms, but more importantly they can sight them in accurately before they go hunting.
“What will contribute to public safety is having these ranges operating so people are on the range and not down at your local riverbank.”
The new regulations sought to formalise them as safe places. Clubs have to have rules for the safe storage and use of firearms, and ranges need to be ballistically safe by, for example, ensuring any stray bullets aren’t in danger of hurting anyone.
But if the costs of complying with the regulations (not just the fees, which were halved from the initial proposal, but also any remedial work) are so much that clubs and ranges are shutting down, McKee thinks the net impact on public safety is negative.
Her “local riverbank” comment is likely a reference to the Rivers to Ranges shooting range in the Hawke’s Bay, run by Jeremy Hanaray, which operated for several years without incident but failed the pre-inspection after the new regulations came into effect.
“They basically said there was no way we would be able to operate the range,” Hanaray told the Herald.
“So people using this facility have their firearms licence checked, and we make sure we’re doing a lot of good things around safe practice, or they can drive right past it and set up a target in the middle of the river bed - and not worry about ricocheting projectiles.
“That just does not make sense to me.”
The range was shut down for several weeks while Hanaray spent about $70,000 to $80,000 to get all the remedial work done to stay open, including higher walls, earthworks, signage, and legal advice so Hanaray isn’t legally liable if there ever was “an incident”.
McKee said some clubs and ranges had the money to meet the requirements, but others didn’t.
“A number of club officials have come to me and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna look at closing our doors because we can’t do this. We’re volunteers and we don’t have this sort of money.’”
How many clubs and ranges have closed?
This is a contentious and important point. A key rationale for any change is that the public is losing the safety benefits that clubs and ranges offer because they are being forced to close.
In December last year, Te Tari Pūreke (the Firearms Safety Authority) said there had been no permanent closures since the new regulations, and when police asked shooting bodies about closures, no examples were provided.
“Of the 300 shooting clubs that applied for approval to operate, 278 clubs have been approved to date, and we are working with the final 22 towards their approval, for example, awaiting further documentation from them before they can be approved,’” said Inspector Peter Baird, the authority’s manager of compliance services.
A further 1285 shooting ranges have been certified or are in the process of being certified, he said. “To date, only two of these ranges have required additional remedy to ensure they were ballistically safe.”
That doesn’t mean none have closed, according to Sporting Shooters Association NZ president Thomas Hemphill, who said police only recorded official closures if they shut one down.
“We may very well have ranges throwing in the towel voluntarily.”
So what’s actually changing?
McKee had intended to repeal all of Part 6 of the Arms Act but has appeared to have softened her stance. “I think it’s best that we don’t repeal all of it straight away, but rather go out for consultation.”
The Ministry of Justice will run the four-week consultation over June, which will involve the firearms community, medical professionals, community lawyers, the Muslim community, and family harm prevention groups - among others.
McKee has new proposals for regulating clubs and ranges, but she is keeping these close to her chest while feedback is sought. She will then bring a paper to Cabinet by the end of the year.
Read more about the law change following the terror attack that could be doing more harm than good
So nothing’s changing for now?
Not quite.
The new regulations included reporting requirements, including any safety breaches and incidents that had the potential to cause injury, and an annual report from shooting clubs.
McKee said the annual report requirements for the 100-odd non-pistol clubs were “an unnecessary burden” with “no clear public safety rationale”.
The report has to include:
If the club sold - or supplied - firearms or ammunition, the annual report has to say what the club has stored and sold, and how that aligns with what’s been bought or supplied. Any revenue from sale or supply also has to be used for the benefit of the club.
After seeking clarification, McKee’s office said shooting clubs will still have to do annual reports, but “they will not have to provide as much detail. This will be a short-term measure, pending the broader changes for clubs.”
What detail they will still have to provide was not clarified.
Derek Cheng is a senior journalist who started at the Herald in 2004. He has worked several stints in the press gallery team and is a former deputy political editor.
It follows concerns about use-of-force powers being given to staff.