The new digital Firearms Registry begins operations today, completing one of the final gun control reforms promised in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack.
The Registry requires licenced gun owners to provide details such as the make, model and serial number of their weapon and to keep an ongoing record of sales and modifications.
"Until now, there has been no complete picture of where all the lawfully held firearms in our community are, and no visibility of how firearms are moving around the community – when people are buying, selling, or passing firearms on to other people," Minister of Police Ginny Andersen said.
"That changes from now. As licence holders fill in the new Firearms Registry, it will give a much clearer picture, and this transparency will help stop firearms being transferred into criminal hands."
Andersen said gun owners have "up to five years" to fill in the Registry, but when in certain instances — if they're selling or buying a firearm — they'll need to do it earlier.
"I know that both Government and Police have appreciated the input of the Firearms Community Advisory Forum, the Arms Engagement Group, and the Minister's Arms Advisory Group in getting us to where we are today," Andersen said.
The Registry requires licenced gun owners to provide details such as the make, model and serial number. (Source: 1News)
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster emphasised that the registry will make it "will make it much harder for gangs and criminals to acquire guns".
He said it will be an important tool in intelligence gathering and allow police to monitor suspicious-looking transactions.
Te Tari Pūreke Firearms Safety Authority Executive Director Angela Brazier said informational security and privacy concerns were a "key element" in designing the registry.
"The platform has been through multiple security assessments by Government approved independent security experts."
Despite the purported benefits, however, ACT has promised to repeal the legislation, with ACT's Firearms spokesperson Nicole McKee calling the Registry "a wasteful and dangerous exercise".
McKee took issue with the cost and compared it to similar international efforts, saying "Canada's firearms register blew out to over $2 billion, achieved only limited participation from firearms owners, and was then dumped in 2011."
"This one is currently budgeted at $208 million, who knows what the final cost will be."
"The register can only work if everyone complies, including gang members and criminals," McKee said. "There is no chance of this happening, Police answered an OIA admitting that 46% of seized firearms had no serial number recorded at all."
McKee said gun violence is "out of control" but accused the Government of focusing on "law-abiding firearms owners rather than gangs".
Gun Control NZ co-founder Philippa Yasbek disagreed, saying "the recent gang-related gun violence in Auckland was fuelled by guns bought by licensed firearms owners. The licensed firearms owners did it because they thought they would get away with it."
"The introduction of firearms registration in the European Union has been credited with making it more difficult for criminals to access firearms. An evaluation of the European registers concluded that the costs were reasonable in light of the benefits that were generated," co-founder Nik Green said.
"In Canada, firearms-related violent crime and firearms thefts declined when their register was in place but increased again when it was abolished," Green added, "for partisan political reasons".
"We won't see the benefits of the registry overnight, but they will happen if the register is fully implemented and stays in place."
SHARE ME