COLFO Response to Firearms Safety Authority Comments in Radio NZ Article

Press Release | 20 July 2026 | Christchurch

In response to comments published by RNZ on 19 July 2026, in which the Firearms Safety Authority publicly rebuked COLFO over claims of declining trust and police tactics toward licensed firearm owners. In the article, Firearms Safety Authority Acting Director Superintendent Bruce Bird claimed that COLFO annually asks its members via Facebook to complete a “non-scientific questionnaire” that “invariably reaches the same conclusion… that there should be less regulatory oversight of firearms in New Zealand, and that the Police should not be the regulator.” He described this as “the evidential basis” of our comments.

This is not an accurate representation of COLFO’s position, nor the basis for our comments.

COLFO has always supported an appropriate level of regulatory oversight, including a robust licensing process. Superintendent Bird is correct on one point: our surveys consistently show that licensed firearm owners do not believe Police should be the regulator. This is not simply a COLFO talking point; it is supported by the findings and recommendations of the Justice Select Committee.

The Justice Select Committee considered the evidence and submissions from COLFO and the wider licensed firearms community. It agreed with the core concerns raised and recommended that the Firearms Safety Authority be removed from the control and day-to-day decision-making of Police. That recommendation is now reflected in the structure of the new regulator, with sworn police officers no longer involved in day-to-day decision-making. If Superintendent Bird wishes to question the reliability of COLFO’s findings, he must also question the validity of the Select Committee process itself.

Superintendent Bird criticises COLFO’s Trust and Confidence surveys for “invariably” reaching the same conclusion. They do, because the licensed firearms community does not have trust or confidence in Police to administer the Arms Act. Our 2026 survey showed that Firearms Safety Authority staff were trusted marginally more than Police. The full results are available here.

Note on Survey Confidence and Reliability Although Bird accused COLFO of using a "non-scientific questionnaire", our annual Trust and Confidence Survey was modeled on the FSA's own version of the survey. Our 2026 Survey received 1,575 responses from New Zealand’s estimated 220,000 licensed firearm owners. With this sample size, the survey has a margin of error of approximately ±2.5% at the 95% confidence level for most percentage-based results. Average scores on the 1–10 scales are even more precise, with a margin of error of roughly ±0.1 to ±0.15 points. While the sample skews toward experienced owners, the high response volume makes the results a robust indicator of sentiment across the licensed firearms community.

If Superintendent Bird believes these results are wrong, the Firearms Safety Authority has the complete database of 220,000 licensed firearm owners. They can survey them directly and ask whether they have trust and confidence in New Zealand Police to administer the Arms Act without bias. Based on the volume of submissions from licensed owners and the Select Committee’s recommendations, we are confident such a survey would align far more closely with our open results than with the Authority’s own cherry-picked respondent surveys.

Notably, the Authority chose not to contest the substance of the claims, the post-2019 collapse in trust, the shift away from friendly community policing, the use of standover tactics, inefficient relicensing, errors in the firearms registry, and the practice of attending the homes of law-abiding licence holders armed as a default policy. Instead, it attacked the messenger. That choice speaks for itself.

COLFO has worked for 30 years with successive governments to deliver fair and effective firearms laws. We have always supported the justified removal of firearms from people who are no longer fit and proper. What we reject is Superintendent Bird’s attempt to frame legitimate concerns about trust and treatment as a desire for less regulation. Licensed firearm owners simply want to be treated like every other law-abiding citizen — not as criminals until proven otherwise. Turning up armed at the homes of people who pose no threat is a clear example of that approach. This is exactly why we welcome the removal of Police from the day-to-day management of law-abiding people. Police exist to deal with criminals. Licensed firearm owners are not criminals. COLFO and the wider licensed firearms community look forward to building a constructive relationship with the new Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand once it is established, free from the scandals that have damaged public trust in New Zealand Police in recent years.

/ENDS

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EDITOR NOTES AND LINKS

 

The original article from Radio NZ can be found here: Firearms Safety Authority rebukes lobby group over claims of police bullying, standover tactics: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/742195/firearms-safety-authority-rebukes-lobby-group-over-claims-of-police-bullying-standover-tactics

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For further information, contact COLFO Spokesperson:

Hugh Devereux-Mack

Email: hugh@colfo.org.nz