Firearms Registry Review: Flawed, Costly, and Politically Dangerous

The Government has just released its Review of the Firearms Registry — and if you’re a licensed firearm owner, you should be furious.

Let’s be clear: this review admits it has almost no data. Only 20% of firearm owners have interacted with the Registry so far, and yet somehow the Ministry of Justice has concluded it's working just fine. That’s not evidence — that’s blind faith.

Here’s what you need to know:

• $8.5 million a year is being spent on a system that, after one year, has helped in exactly one known case.

• The Registry hasn’t even been fully implemented — but they’re already planning to expand it. We ask: Based on what evidence?

• Submitters raised concerns about privacy (following police data breaches), complexity and errors already present in the registry, RealMe barriers, and fear of criminalisation for simple errors.

The response? A new communications plan. That is a mockery considering communication should flow both ways, and our lived experience is being discounted by bureaucrats in Wellington who think they know best, but will not have to deal with the consequences.

• Even overseas — in places like Canada, Australia, and the UK — no registry has ever proven it increases public safety or reduces gun crime. Not once.

• The review admits it's “too early to tell” if the Registry is improving safety — yet it recommends continuing full steam ahead anyway.

This is not how good policy is made.

Licensed firearm owners are being punished to justify political decisions made in the wake of tragedy. Meanwhile, gangs continue to access firearms illegally through theft, smuggling, and untraceable imports. However, rather than invest in frontline enforcement, the government is doubling down on tracking the already law-abiding.

Here’s the kicker: National and NZ First backed this review. If they think the licensed firearms community will accept this quietly, they’re in for a surprise.

We’ve seen this all before from previous Labour Governments: weak data, strong emotional spin, and another bureaucratic tool built on the backs of lawful owners.

Make your voice heard.

- Call or meet with your local MP from National or NZ First.

- Tell them: this is an election issue.

Ask them: Where is the evidence that this works? Why are we paying millions for a system that criminalises the compliant and misses the actual criminals?

If they don’t stand up for you now — don’t support them next year. There are parties willing to represent us.

We support firearm safety. But we demand policies based on facts — not fiction.