- Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee used to be the spokeswoman for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (Colfo). Now she’s responsible for firearms law reform.
- Her office’s written messages with Colfo include disparaging remarks about Police Association president Chris Cahill, an invitation for Colfo to fill the minister’s diary, and sending Colfo ministerial releases in advance.
- The Police Association, Gun Control NZ and Labour say McKee is too close to the gun lobby. McKee says she needs to hear from those directly impacted by firearms legislation.
It’s no surprise that Firearms Minister Nicole McKee remains close to the firearms community she used to represent. But how close is too close?
Correspondence released to the Herald under the Official Information Act shows she has kept her written communication with representatives of the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (Colfo) to a minimum, though there’s been a steady stream of contact with her office.
This includes exchanges criticising Police Association president Chris Cahill, co-ordinating media releases, and even inviting Colfo to fill the minister’s diary with events.
These have prompted Cahill, Gun Control NZ, and the Opposition to claim McKee is in the gun lobby’s pocket, and question whether she can be trusted to be impartial.
Government MPs, however, say she is the most qualified to reform gun laws, and McKee says it would be remiss not to have regular contact with the likes of Colfo, whose members are directly affected by those laws.
Before being recruited to the Act Party, McKee was Colfo’s spokeswoman and an outspoken critic of the gun law change following the March 15 terrorist attack. She has also founded a firearms safety business, has firearms instruction and safety qualifications, and extensive experience as an instructor and range officer.
Public safety – and preventing history repeating – is everyone’s top priority as McKee looks to ease regulations for gun clubs and shooting ranges, review the firearms registry, and rewrite the Arms Act including whether there should be greater access to military-style semi-automatic firearms (MSSAs).
She has already said she doesn’t support a full registry, and Act campaigned on greater access to MSSAs – for legitimate purposes, and under strict checks.
Maintaining trust will be critical for McKee: she won’t be able to deliver her agenda without the support of National and NZ First.
‘Just painful’
The Herald requested all correspondence between McKee’s office and Hugh Devereux-Mack, Colfo spokesman and NZ Deer Association (NZDA) marketing manager, and Colfo chairman Brad Gallop. The OIA release didn’t capture phone calls, which are usually refused under privacy protections.
McKee sent only one message in writing, in April, when she responded to a query from Devereux-Mack about Te Tari Pūreke/the Firearms Safety Authority (TTP/FSA). The contents of the query were redacted. McKee replied: “I’m unable to address this with you yet Hugh.”
All other written correspondence was with McKee’s staff, with one staffer in particular being the main contact.
Devereux-Mack exchanged dozens of text messages with him, many of which were redacted to protect privacy. They show co-ordinating over material to be published, confirming Colfo to receive ministerial releases in advance, and sharing information over what was found in Auckland “raids”.
There’s also frustration over the comments of Cahill in an RNZ story in April; Cahill accused McKee of misleading the public by suggesting more than 6600 firearms licence holders could possess MSSAs.
In the story, TTP/FSA said there were 6847 firearms licence holders with an endorsement to hold special classes of arms items; 1593 of them could hold the MSSAs that were mostly banned in 2019, and 328 people (pest controllers) could fire them.
The staffer sent the story to Devereux-Mack, who replied: “You should be fine. Cahill omitted that every licensed firearms owner can own semi-autos without special provisions, .22s and shotguns. He’s just misleading press again for a headline.”
Staffer: “Just painful. Not acknowledging pistol and collectors endorsement either. Oh well.”
Asked for a response to the text messages, Cahill stood by his claim that the minister was trying to suggest 6000-odd people can have MSSAs. “They’re missing the point. The minister is trying to include other firearms, when people are interested in what was banned after 2019.”
Cahill and McKee clashed last month when the former wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, asking him to intervene because the Police Association was “deliberately excluded” from a review of the firearms registry.
McKee responded by saying police were involved so the association wasn’t needed, and everyone will be able to have a say in a select committee process, if new legislation is required.
‘Boss is happy now’
In another exchange, McKee’s staffer asked about Colfo events the minister could attend. “Keen to get her out and about and the calendar is looking light.”
And in May, Devereux-Mack sought information from the staffer in redacted questions, leading to this exchange:
Staffer: “The 2000 3D printed firearms is not factual.”
Devereux-Mack: “Thanks for both. No firearms or parts in the flatbush raids?”
Staffer: “Christchurch?”
Devereux-Mack: “Auckland.”
Staffer: “They aren’t aware of that supposedly.”
Devereux-Mack told the Herald the messages related to rumours from Colfo members about a raid on a gang house where 3D-printed firearms were allegedly being made.
“I wanted to check if McKee’s office was aware so someone could investigate if there was any truth to the rumour.”
McKee said sharing the information was appropriate as it was “putting an end to misinformation being circulated”.
Other messages show Devereux-Mack sharing a draft of an online NZDA post about progress on gun law reforms. The staffer took issue with wording that the Government had “failed” to repeal the regulations for gun clubs and shooting ranges in its first 100 days (the commitment was to start the process).
When Devereux-Mack said he had removed the word “failed”, the staffer replied: “Much much better thanks. Boss is happy now.”
Devereux-Mack told the Herald that Colfo had been invited by the previous Government to have regular meetings with the minister responsible for gun laws, which the current Government is continuing.
Colfo was not a lobby group, he said.
“We are directly-affected stakeholders in firearm legislation who meet with the government of the day to share with them the concerns and feedback from our community.”
He noted Police Minister Mark Mitchell is a former police officer, Hunting and Fishing Minister Todd McClay is a hunter, and Health Minister Shane Reti is a doctor.
“Having ministers with experience in their portfolios is an asset for the country as they are aware of the impact on the community legislation has, and help create practical, achievable and effective legislation.”
He confirmed McKee was a member of Colfo but not a direct member; she is a member of the NZDA Wellington branch, which allowed her to use the local rifle range and attend meetings, and all NZDA members are also Colfo members.
McKee also has regular meetings with Colfo and the NZDA, and has spoken at their events. Frequent contact has enabled her to hear numerous complaints about the current legislation, she said.
”We need to hear from those affected to address any issues which impact the safe use of firearms, and therefore public safety. Likewise, my office has directly contacted a number of Muslim groups, both in Christchurch and Wellington, to share the intent of our firearms reform workplan,” she said in a statement.
“We heard their concerns and assured them they would have their say as bills were introduced and moved to the select committee process. I have also contacted and met with smaller fringe groups, such as Gun Control NZ.”
‘Working hand in glove with the gun lobby’
Gun Control co-founder Philippa Yasbek said the correspondence showed McKee was “still operating as a gun lobbyist”.
“We are seeing her repeatedly demonstrate her unsuitability for a ministerial role: providing misleading information to Parliament [over the number of gun owners who can access MSSAs], refusing to consult key stakeholders she disagrees with, and having unresolved conflicts of interest [McKee’s firearms safety business, which McKee has said is not currently trading],” Yasbek said.
“She is once again demonstrating her unsuitability for the job as her office and Colfo co-ordinate their media activities. While she seems to be paying lip service to public safety, her refusal to rule out continuing the ban on semi-automatic weapons suggests that she is still in the pocket of the gun lobby.”
Labour’s police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen said the correspondence showed McKee working “hand in glove with the gun lobby”. She called this a conflict of interest and said Luxon needed to intervene, without specifying what that intervention should be.
Cahill is also focusing his attention on the National Party – in his case Mitchell – given the need for the party’s support to change gun laws.
“I’d rather deal with National and hold them accountable for any law changes – a minister I have a working relationship with, rather than a minister who doesn’t think we should be consulted.
“She’s at the beck and call of Colfo. They’re still very, very closely linked, and have the same agenda.”
Cahill said there were already two reasons to be concerned: “The minister could theoretically approve the reintroduction of the MSSAs without a law change, and they could then be used on unregulated shooting ranges.”
The former relates to Cabinet approval to give McKee regulatory-making powers for firearms, as the minister responsible for firearms law. This will give her the ability to change the definition of a prohibited firearm by Order-in-Council, which would need Cabinet approval but no public consultation.
The latter refers to McKee’s proposal to make non-pistol shooting ranges self-regulated. They would have to be enrolled and follow the standing orders of a governing body, but there would be no police monitoring, and no penalties for non-compliance.
McKee said this would improve public safety because ranges, where firearms safety is taught, are closing due to too many regulations. She has also pointed to her engagement with the firearms community as evidence that many are closing, which Justice Ministry officials have called an untested assumption.
This is revealed in McKee’s Cabinet paper, where she said there was “no information to suggest that non-pistol ranges were operating unsafely” under the old system. The paper did not include information about the hundreds of improvement notices issued to shooting ranges for failing to comply with range standing orders or ballistic safety standards.
Police have said these would not have been picked up under the old system, prompting Cahill to question whether McKee can be trusted to fully inform her Cabinet colleagues about the potential safety risks of her proposals.
McKee defended her comments in the Cabinet paper as consistent with submissions, mainly from gun groups, during consultation on tightening the regulations in 2022.
“Most submitters at that time welcomed the purpose of the proposals to increase safety, but considered there was no evidence of the proposals achieving this. Others referenced the impeccable safety record that clubs and ranges had.”
‘Demonisation of Nicole McKee’
McKee and Luxon have repeatedly said that discussions over access to MSSAs are yet to take place, and will be part of a wider review of the Arms Act before the end of the parliamentary term.
Last week Act leader David Seymour criticised Labour’s questioning over whether McKee should have regulatory-making powers for firearms, given she’s the responsible minister.
“People are somehow assuming that this kind, warm, thoughtful and knowledgeable person in the subject area shouldn’t have this power ... that every other minister before her had ... because she’s somehow a bad person. I just don’t buy this demonisation of Nicole McKee.
“She’s also the person who lobbied in favour of better vetting and better restrictions.”
In 2011, McKee argued against a proposal to modify magazines on a semi-automatic rifle so it can’t be converted into an MSSA (for licence holders without an endorsement to have one). Her reasoning was that it was expensive and “cosmetically unappealing”.
She was also an adviser to then-Police Minister Paula Bennett, who in 2017 rejected a select committee recommendation to investigate greater restrictions on all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. This was an attempt to close the loophole that Brenton Tarrant exploited; he legally bought high-capacity magazines, and then fitted them to his legally-owned semi-automatic rifles to make them MSSAs, which he could not legally have.
McKee told TVNZ’s Q+A last month that, since 2012, she has advocated for closing this loophole by calling for tighter restrictions for high-capacity magazines.
Seymour said there was no one in Parliament more qualified than McKee when it came to gun laws.
“Is she going to be effective and good at the job? The answer is yes.
“She’s the person with the most expertise. She’s the best person you could have, if you want to be safer from firearms violence in this country.”
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.
