The Associate Minister of Justice (Firearms), Hon Nicole McKee promised in her press release that New Zealanders will be consulted on the proposed changes to Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 relating to clubs and ranges, yet only a few select organisations have been invited to comment and there is no mention of this consultation on the Ministry’s website. “We are most concerned with this seemingly non-democratic approach to make changes for the benefit of the gun lobby”, said Abdur Razzaq, from FIANZ. “By only inviting a select number of stakeholders an opportunity to have a say, not disclosing the information on the Ministry website and keeping the process under tight control, we question where is the public’s opportunity for scrutiny on how taxpayers’ funds will be used?” “By only giving only 14 working days to submit on such an important change which impacts on safety and security, it seems it is just a tick box exercise and a decision has already been made. When the current legislation was introduced in 2023, more than six weeks was given for consultation, and now to make changes, we are given only 14 working days”. This is patently concerning, said Abdur Razzaq.

Making a promise to consult New Zealanders and then breaking the promise by only inviting selected organisations is simply crossing the boundary of genuine and transparent consultation. It is our understanding that the NZ Police Association, whose members include frontline Police who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, were not invited to submit. This is simply untenable, and we wonder if there is a hidden agenda behind all this, said Abdur Razzaq. 

The Discussion Document which was sent to the selected list is not fit-for-purpose and lacks basic information on the scope and scale of the issue that the Minister is trying to fix. Not a single fact or evidence is given to support the changes and it seems they do not want democratic scrutiny. FIANZ has made an evidence-based submission, which highlights the inadequacy of the document and also the hypothetical problems that the Associate Minister wants to ‘fix’. The document provides no evidence to support the Minister’s claim that there are “issues” apart from just hearsay anecdotes. 

FIANZ acknowledges that the ACT Party have a mandate to change the Act and also it is part of the Coalition Agreement, however we would expect a transparent process of giving New Zealanders the opportunity to have their say. FIANZ states in their submission that they are not anti-gun, but they are pro-safety.

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