After the announcement of the new Not So Independent Firearms Authority we issued a press release and pointed out that our senior Police sources were telling us that Police were planning on using their new role as regulators to:
- Restrict the number of firearms an A category licence holder can own to just 5 firearms
- Added restrictions in ammunition
- Restrict the number of firearms per safe – with marketing data as a guideline
- Implement registration by July 2023
- It seems we kicked a hornet’s nest with those statements.
COLFO immediately reacted with not one, but two posts to Facebook. The first stated:
“We want to assure our members that we have seen no evidence to support these claims.
We know it is a challenging time, our team are all LFO’s and share your frustrations. However, we must operate based on evidence, and not speculation that seeks to cause unnecessary distress, or divide our community.
COLFO reiterates that this is not the independent authority that was committed to by government. We will keep you informed as we meet with the Minister to voice our concerns, and prepare our formal response to the announcement.”
Just because they’ve seen no evidence doesn’t mean that what we said isn’t true. They followed up that message with another:
COLFO have received a number of messages from licensed firearms owners expressing their concern over rumors on social media, originating from some sporting bodies.
These rumours included:
- Restrictions on the number of firearms an A category licence holder can own to just 5 firearms
- Restrictions in ammunition
- Restrictions to the number of firearms per safe – with marketing data as a guideline
COLFO takes the concerns of our community seriously and raised this with Police on Tuesday (16 Nov). Superintendent Mike McIlraith, Director of Partnerships has confirmed that there is no basis for these claims and they are false.
“The Arms Act does not restrict the number of firearms that a firearms licence holder may own or possess. This also applies to ammunition. For the possession of firearms and ammunition there is a requirement that firearms licence holders store these arms items in accordance with the requirements of the Arms Act and Arms Regulations.”
COLFO value the working relationship we hold with Police. This partnership contributes to our ability to provide licensed firearms owners with verified information they can trust.
Mike McIlraith has been his usual slippery self. His statement does not say what COLFO thinks it says. McIlraith is simply stating the current law. COLFO have grabbed that statement and essentially called us liars.
Unfortunately, for both COLFO and Mike McIlraith, the minister is saying something else.
COLFO and Pistol NZ both have representatives on the Minister’s advisory board, both of those representatives know that shooters demand a truly independent Firearms Authority. Yet they have surrendered meekly, blithely accepting the opposite of what we were promised. Shooters have been betrayed by those representatives and their organisations.
We stand by our statement, our sources are impeccable. Sensible shooters have a choice, they can trust us, or they can trust them.
Sensible Shooters
Sensible Shooters are firearms owners who are Police vetted, fit and proper law abiding New Zealander gun owners. Sensible Shooters want to achieve real results for all licensed firearms owners who feel that the Government & the Police have not listened to their concerns over firearms reforms.
Sensible Shooters want to help the New Zealand firearms community. Sensible Shooters recognises the work of COLFO and other shooting organisations who may continue to offer a conciliatory response. Sensible Shooters can add to this with two clear goals that can make a real difference for law abiding gun owners.
- Testing the Law for the Firearms Community
- Mobilising the Firearms Community at Elections
Our purpose is to force the Government to govern, with accountable elected representatives making the law, rather than delegating responsibility to unelected Police to make up ad hoc regulations that impinge on law abiding firearms owners.
