COLFO Says Licensed Firearm Community Will Secure New Arms Bill
- COLFO PR
- Nov 11, 2025
- 2 min read
Press Release 11 November 2025
COLFO says an outpouring of input and support and further feedback from the firearms community for the replacement Arms Act introduced to Parliament today will aim to secure fair and effective laws for the next 50 years.
COLFO spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says years of tinkering twisted the current Act into an unfair and unhelpful focus on licenced firearm owners, rather than criminals.
“Tinkering with the current Act has not made a single New Zealander safer, and firearm crime has worsened.
COLFO Says Licensed Firearm Community Will Secure New Arms Bill “This is our chance to secure fair treatment and protection of people with genuine use for firearms and turn the focus of regulators and Police on criminals.
“We are on the cusp of finally getting fair and reasonable treatment of licensed firearm owners. We urge every licensed firearm owner to submit to the Select Committee, explaining why they have a license, and the benefits and challenges of the proposed changes,” says Devereux-Mack.
He was disappointed at the absence of a refresh of the definition of a fit and proper licensed firearm owner, but was pleased at the biggest change in the Bill; the removal of the Police from firearm licensing and regulation.
“The single-most common complaint from Licensed Firearm Owners is unfair and intimidating treatment by Police. This waste of Police time must be stopped.
“The Police influenced and colluded with politicians to twist the legislation, resulting in a tangle of red tape that enables harassment of law-abiding New Zealanders, and virtually ignores intentional misuse of firearms.”
COLFO said key areas of LFO input on the Bill were;
A new firearm and licensing regulator: this removes licensing assessments and policy from the whims and predilections of Police.
Regulator must consult with firearms community: LFOs have knowledge and practical experience that should be utilised to create workable and fair regulations.
Firearms Licensing Review Committee: ensures transparency and opportunity for better assessment.
Reg Flags: prevents those most likely to misuse firearms from securing a firearms license
New offences: intentional diversion of firearms is rare, but must be discouraged and penalised severely.
Updated penalties: finally, the law will treat illegal actions by unlicensed people more seriously than minor administrative errors by licensed owners.
Modified firearms: a much fairer approach to allowing owners to keep firearms by making them compliant
3D printing: a good initial response, but detail required, such as treatment of files for replacement parts.
Changes to naming conventions: pejorative language has created an official atmosphere of fear toward firearms, which has influenced unfair conduct toward LFOs.
Read the Full Explanation of Proposals Here
ENDS
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