Firearms Safety Authority Announces Return to Volunteer Trainers COLFO Asks: Where Is the Training Budget Going?
- COLFO PR
- Jul 15
- 2 min read
Press Release | 15 July 2026 | Christchurch
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO) notes the Firearms Safety Authoritys announcement of a new Community Firearms Safety Trainer program. While community involvement in safety education is welcomed, COLFO questions where the substantial taxpayer funding previously allocated to firearms safety training is now being directed.
Before 2017, firearms safety training was delivered effectively by passionate volunteers from within the licensed community. These instructors invested their own time and money, receiving only a free FAL renewal and an annual regional dinner in return. The system worked well.
Police led changes dismantled this successful model, replacing it with a centralised approach that relied on paid staff. Now, as the Authority moves back toward community trainers who will again serve voluntarily, cover their own costs, and receive no pay, COLFO is asking a straightforward question:
If we are returning to a volunteer system, where is that training money being directed?
"Pre 2017 we did this as a community service. It was done by people from within the firearms community with a passion for giving back. This system was in place, there were a lot of volunteers, and it worked well. No, we did not get paid, nor was it expected. It was simply giving back to a community we all felt we had gotten much from, though we did get a FAL renewal at no cost and an annual dinner," said Colfo Spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack.
"Police threw this network of compassionate and experienced volunteers away because they felt they could do better, and have now learned that they cannot. But after spending an unknown amount of taxpayer money trying with paid staff, they have again asked volunteers to step up, but without any perks and on their own dollar."
"The irony of the new agency being named Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand, yet relying on volunteers to deliver the education portion of their name, is also not lost on us. They spent millions centralising everything, and now they are asking volunteers to step back in on their own dollar while the bureaucracy keeps the budget. We support community-led safety training, but taxpayers and licence holders deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent."
The new program requires volunteers to undergo vetting, provide videos and references, complete unpaid training including travel costs, and handle digital administration, all to deliver courses that licence applicants already pay for through their application fees. No separate charging is permitted.
COLFO urges the Firearms Safety Authority to provide a full breakdown of firearms safety training expenditure over the past 5 years, the return on investment, and to prioritise genuine partnership with the community. Those whom the authority claims to value should be compensated from the authority's existing training budget.
This is a positive step toward rebuilding the relationship with licensed firearm owners, but the government should not abuse the good nature of those who wish to support their community and the safety of all New Zealanders by expecting them to incur a personal cost for doing work that Firearms Safety Authority employees were previously paid to do.
/ENDS
EDITOR NOTES AND LINKSTrainer information can be found here on the FSA website: |
For further information, contact COLFO Spokesperson:
Hugh Devereux-Mack
Email: hugh@colfo.org.nz
A humorous parallel:
Boxer the horse from Orwell's "Animal Farm."
Boxer's loyalty ultimately leads to his downfall. After working tirelessly on the windmill, he collapses from exhaustion. Instead of receiving care, he is sold to a glue factory by the pigs, who prioritize their own needs over his well-being.
Excellent question, where is the money, how was it previously "
wasted" spent? and what is happening to it now?When will we again be able to use semi-auto weapons, or will they be coming for our kitchen knives soon?
The political machine's propaganda doesn't fool everyone.
(You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time).
Whats the problem with semis? whats the evidence? Precisely what problem are they "saying" they are trying to fix?
It ain't about "our" safety, as they hold us in utter contempt.
Bring back semis!