This is it: The Final Fight for Fair and Effective Firearms Law
- Hugh Devereux-Mack
- Jul 4
- 3 min read
The New Arms Act Starts Now – We Need Your Help
In 2019, COLFO launched the Fair and Reasonable campaign to stand up for licensed firearm owners. That campaign was funded by everyday licensed firearm owners who felt that they were unfairly scapegoated by the government of the day for the failings of Police, and it gave us the backing to take legal action against the buyback, the register, the banning of centrefire semi-automatics, and the subsequent unjust confiscation of ammunition with no compensation.
We won in court. But the Government, knowing it was legally in the wrong, ignored the ruling because Parliament is sovereign. We also challenged on the grounds of the New Zealand Bill of Rights. The result? The courts ruled that the Arms Act overrides your basic rights. The only way to fix that is to rewrite the law.
So we did what no other organisation dared to do. With your support, we helped put our former Spokesperson Nicole McKee, into Parliament. Today, she’s the Associate Minister of Justice, with full responsibility for rewriting the Arms Act. This has already led to the policy writing moving away from the Police and into the hands of the Ministry of Justice.
The rewrite begins in July 2025, and it’s our one shot to undo the damage done and secure the future of shooting sports in New Zealand.
What We've Done
This has been a long, hard fight, and in all honesty, not without losses due to the magnitude of the battle that comes with fighting across politics, the media, and interest groups who seek to place greater restrictions on LFO's like you in the name of "public safety". But with each loss, we learned and moved forward.
Beyond the Arms Act rewrite, your support has helped us:
Separate the policy writing and firearms administration function away from Police and into the Ministry of Justice.
Force a review of the firearms registry, which, disappointingly, National chose to maintain into the future despite all sense pointing to it being a waste of money.
Participate in the Coronial Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack and licensing failures. The results will be published later this year.
Funded legal cases to keep shooting ranges open and defend LFOs from police overreach and intimidation tactics. These wins also set the precedent for future defense of licensed firearm owners, as they are needed
Produce guidance for every major submission that affects firearm owners while also making our own expert submission, assisted by legal counsel.
Launched national media campaigns to counter the misinformation spread by anti-gun politicians and lobby groups, including the Police Union, to hold them to account.
There are many meetings and boards our volunteers sit on, which can't be discussed publicly. Some due to the rules of those forums, and others because it would give anti-gun lobby groups more ammunition to spin into a media storm against us.
But we are tirelessly fighting for all licensed firearm owners daily. So if you care about the rights of licensed firearm owners, please give what you can afford and help us fight for you and the next generation of kiwi hunters, shooters, and collectors.
This is the final fight. And we are so close!
The rewrite of the Arms Act is the moment we’ve been working towards for nearly a decade. It’s our chance to finally build a law that respects licensed firearm owners and secures the future of our sports, our traditions, and our community. But we can’t finish the job without your help.
Changing the law means engaging lawyers, policy experts, and public campaigns – and that costs money. We’ve stretched every dollar from the 2019 Fair and Reasonable campaign as far as it could go, but six years on, those funds are spent.
Now it’s time to refill the war chest and finish what we started so we don't need to fight for our existence if another anti-gun Ardern-style government comes into power again.
Please make a donation today, or sign up for our free newsletter. Every dollar goes towards making sure your voice is heard and your rights are respected.
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