The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has welcomed the wariness of the new Police Commissioner toward the enthusiasm of the Police Association for carrying “pistols on the hip”.

COLFO Spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says the trade-off for Police carrying pistols on the hip is the lives of everyday citizens.

“It’s a sad reality that in every country where Police wear pistols: it results in more dead civilians.

“We see internationally it’s not just criminals who get shot by Police; it’s innocents, bystanders, and people in domestic or everyday disputes.”

Devereux-Mack says the risk of ordinary citizens being shot by criminals with firearms is too small to justify introducing permanently armed Police. New Zealand currently has about 2.5 gun-related deaths per million people. The United States has about 106 deaths per million people.

“The risk of an innocent citizen being injured or dying in New Zealand from criminal activity would have to be many times higher before it is greater than the risk of being wrongfully shot by Police.”

Devereux-Mack explains that permanently armed Police injure or kill people because;

• Internationally we see Police increasingly draw firearms in non-firearm or non-violent incidents, increasing the chances of them shooting frightened or emotional citizens.
• Armed Police in New Zealand have already scared innocent civilians and allegedly pointed firearms at children
• Some Police have medical challenges such as PTSD and related symptoms which would disqualify them from holding a firearm licence if they were a civilian.

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Devereux-Mack said the arming of each Police officer safely would be almost impossible because of the high standard necessary for peacetime use of weapons in, and on the public.

“Standards for the use of firearms against citizens require an order of capability beyond most people, including Police. It is interesting that Police must have a driver's license to drive their vehicle, but are not required to qualify for a firearms license to carry a gun which is a unique double standard.”

“Not every Police officer could manage the handling requirements, nor would they get the range time and anti-bias training to be effective under the extreme pressure of deploying weapons in the field. None of this adds up to safer streets for law-abiding Kiwis”

“Introducing everyday carry for police will start an arms race that encourages criminals to carry illegal firearms to meet police with equal force. That escalation of violence undermines ‘community policing’ and will cost lives.”

Devereux-Mack said it was ironic that the Police Association claimed Police now need to wear pistols because they are attending more firearm incidents. After all, the Association had claimed New Zealanders would be safer from gun crime due to policy changes since the Christchurch mosque shootings.

“They said New Zealanders would be safer with the introduction of the firearm registry and additional restrictions on licensed owners, but they now admit firearm incidents have increased proving once again they were wrong. The Association has no credibility on firearm policy.”[1]

COLFO notes that in the latest media coverage, the Police Association claims 68% of its members want to wear firearms. This is a reduction from the 73% in their 2021 survey result.

Additional information

COLFO Press Release on Arming Police from 2021

Post-traumatic stress disorder rife among police, survey shows

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