As requested, NZ firearms laws

[antagonist22]

In New Zealand, to own a firearm, you need a license. Everyone starts off with A category and B,C,D,E category are added onto license as "endorsements" on the same license

Note: automatic weapons are illegal but you can collect them.

A category: standard firearms license. Allows you to own any rifle and shotgun that does not have ANY of these features:

pistol grip
bayonet lug
flash supressor
centrefire magazine holding more than 7 rounds
rimfire magazine more than 15 rounds
folding buttstock

B category: pistols,revolvers,anything under 762mm designed to be held with one hand.

C category: collectors,film,heirloom,etc... You can own these but cannot be used(doesn't have to be permanently disabled though)

D category: dealers, someone that sells firearms for a way of life

E category: Military Style Semi-Auto's. Any firearm that has ANY of these features:

pistol grip
bayonet lug
flash supressor
centrefire magazine holding more than 7 rounds
rimfire magazine more than 15 rounds
folding buttstock


Other information you might be interested to know:

Mininum age to apply for a standard firearms license(I think you can apply for B and C at 16, not too sure): 16

Mininum age to apply for E category: 18

License are renewed every 10 years

Every firearms license holder is reqiured to have secure storage of firearms.

There are extra security requirements for category C,E.

Automatic airsoft guns are classfied as restricted weapons(can be owned under E category)

Any questions,feel free to ask me.


One thing I forgot to add: everyone applying for a firearms license is screened and 2 referees are interviewed. The police also visit the residence of the person applying for a firearms license to check safe storage and the environment the person lives in.

For pistol, the person MUST shoot in a recognised club at least 12 times a year, before applying, a person who wants to shoot pistols must join the club for at least 6 months before the club make a recommendation that the person can apply for a B category

 

[Tokugawa]

what about a Lee Enfield .303 with a 10 round magazine? Is this a class E just because of capacity?

 

[antagonist22]

Yea, makes it a E category

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Automatic airsoft guns are classfied as restricted weapons(can be owned under E category)

A gun that fires 6mm plastic BBs is restricted more seriously than an actual firearm? I guess gun laws lacking any kind of common sense application is a universal phenomenon.

 

[antagonist22]

Yes, automatic airsoft guns are more restricted than normal firearms capable of killing people. I don't really agree with this. What is strange to this is that while airsoft guns are essentially toys, a licensed 16 year old will be able to walk out of gun shops with 1000 rounds of ammo, and legally shoot .50 cal weapons using a standard firearms license. So yes, its lacking common sense.I find it more disturbing that a 16 year old can walk out of a gun shop with a 12 gauge than a 16 year old with a airsoft gun.

One thing I forgot to add: everyone applying for a firearms license is screened and 2 referees are interviewed. The police also visit the residence of the person applying for a firearms license to check safe storage and the environment the person lives in.

For pistol, the person MUST shoot in a recognised club at least 12 times a year, before applying, a person who wants to shoot pistols must join the club for at least 6 months before the club make a recommendation that the person can apply for a B category

 

[Odd Job]

@ antagonist22

Thanks!

Just one thing: do you need a license per gun or one category license fits all weapons within that category?

 

[rhubarb]

That sounds like common sense gun laws. I don't see why anyone would object to those kinds of restrictions. Heck, you only have to renew your license every 10 years!

 

[JoshM]

antagonist22

Yea, makes it a E category

No - Only semi automatic firearms with certain attachments require an E endorsement. The Lee Enfield rifle does not, as it is a bolt action firearm.

C category: collectors,film,heirloom,etc... You can own these but cannot be used(doesn't have to be permanently disabled though)

Collectors normally use military ranges when shooting this weaponry, as they are specifically exempt from the Arms Act 1983 (the Act).

Automatic airsoft guns are classified as restricted weapons(can be owned under E category)

Under the Act restricted weapons are different to Military Style Semi Automatics. Restricted weapons normally require a collector's endorsement.

Bartholomew Roberts

I understand that automatic airsoft guns were reclassified specifically under section 4 (Commissioner Powers) of the Act. Prior to the reclassification any person (over the age of 18, or 16 with a license) could possess automatic airsoft guns, and there were concerns from the Police that unlicensed persons were carrying/brandishing "military look alike weaponry" for criminal or other moronic purposes. To me, the answer is simply to increase the penalties for brandishing. But I expect the Police don't want to upset their stats.

Oddjob

Just one thing: do you need a license per gun or one category license fits all weapons within that category?

The license is for the owner/operator, so there are no limits on the number of firearms that can be possessed on a single license.

One thing I forgot to add: everyone applying for a firearms license is screened and 2 referees are interviewed. The police also visit the residence of the person applying for a firearms license to check safe storage and the environment the person lives in.

The Act does state the above. However, in practice it depends on your local Arms Officer. In my little farming town, the Arms Officer did not check security, and the referee check consisted of a phone discussion with the applicant's father over the phone.

The Act can be found in the library attached at the link below. Select "A" and scroll down to Arms Act.

http://http://www.legislation.govt.nz/browse_vw.asp?content-set=pal_statutes

 

[crunker]

How do you own a fullauto?

 

[JoshM]

Crunker

How do you own a fullauto?

It requires a Firearms License, with a collector's endorsement. Basically a $200.00 fee, a strong room built into your house, and convincing your local Arms Officer that you are a "bona fide collector". I know a few collectors, when applying for their collector endorsement they all had to prove that they were upstanding members of the community and were formally involved in arms collecting via an association.

Below is the relevant section of the Arms Act.

(2)— Any person, being an applicant for a firearms licence or a holder of a firearms licence, may apply at an Arms Office to a member of the Police for an endorsement permitting that person to have possession of a pistol or a restricted weapon [(other than an anti-personnel mine)] in his capacity as

(a)A member of an incorporated pistol shooting club for the time being recognised by the Commissioner for the purposes of this section; or

(b)A bona fide collector of firearms; or

(c)A person to whom the pistol or restricted weapon has special significance as an heirloom or memento; or

(d)The Director or Curator of a bona fide museum; or

(e)An approved employee or approved member of any body, being—

(i)A broadcaster within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1989; or

(ii)A bona fide theatre company or society or cinematic or television film production company or video recording production company; or]

(f)A licensed dealer or an agent or employee of a licensed dealer; or

(g)A person of a class specified for the purposes of this section by regulations made under this Act.

 

[treeprof]

JoshM or antagonist22 - What would it take for a foreigner to be able to shoot at a club or range in NZ? I teach a study abroad course (S. Island) each spring for about a month.

 

[JoshM]

Treeprof

A license holder may allow an unlicensed person to operate firearms as long as the unlicensed person is under their direct supervision. If you have a NZ friend who has a license and goes shooting with you, you should be fine.

However, If you are interested in doing alot of shooting, then you may wish to acquire a 12 month visitor's licence. You can apply for the form here :http://www.police.govt.nz/service/firearms/

 

[treeprof]

JoshM - Thank you for the link and information.

If I may bother you with one more question, I note on the list of weapons that may not be imported into NZ is "Any knife where the blade is released by force of gravity or force to the central point, and which is then locked in place by a button, spring, lever or other device." Does this mean that any pocket knife with a device to lock it in the fully open positon is forbidden? I have brought either a small Gerber or Benchmade folder on my trips, and both styles have a mechanism that locks the blade open. I've never been stopped or questioned by Customs, but I'm thinking that I may better better off with an old-fashioned folder and a small fixed blade. We spend a lot of time outdoors in this class, I have like to have a utility knife or two at my disposal.

 

[Odd Job]

@ JoshM

Thanks for that info.
It seems to me that you guys have it a lot better than the Aussies. Do you get many Aussies coming over to shoot? Or even frustrated South Africans who live in Australia?

 

[JoshM]

Treeprof

Knife regulations (and import prohibitions) I believe are focused on knives that have a "mechanical or gravity assist" ala' "CIA gravity knife" or switchblade style knives.

Alot of Gerber folding knives are sold in NZ, so I doubt that a locking folder would be a problem as long as it is in your luggage. Airport security here have adopted "international best practice" of confiscating most pocket knives, clippers, and anything else that remotely resembles an edged weapon as a means of keeping themselves employed ... er I mean keeping the skies safe.

There are also import prohibitions on "butterfly knives", double bladed daggers, sword canes, and a list of fixed blade knives referred to by name in the regulations (e.g. any knife sold as the "urban skinner", etc).

Oddjob

NZ has a growing ex pat community of South Africans, many of whom are keen shooters, and were therefore likely attracted to NZ's more liberal* gun laws. The secretary of my Pistol Club at Varsity was X SA. Recently NZ has also experienced an increase in Zimbabwean refugees (both black and white).

I've never met any Australian shooters or hunters here, but I expect that they do make up a proportion of NZ's safari business.

* liberal by the standards of most other Western Liberal Democracies, not the U.S.

 

[Odd Job]

@ JoshM

That's one thing you can count on about most South Africans: wherever we go we look for a place where we can shoot. The same is true even over here in London. At my gun club we are getting a steady increase in the number of South Africans. One of them is on the committee of that club.

That reminds me: what is the rule about crossbows in NZ, and do you perhaps know what the situation is for crossbows in Oz?

 

[LAR-15]

To echo Odd Job, what are the laws on crossbows, compound bows and recurve bows?

Are they allowed for hunting (say red stag)?

Thanks

 

[antagonist22]

Yes,they can be used for hunting.Some gun shops even sell them.To my knowledge I dont think there is an age limit on bows.

 

[Odd Job]

And does it matter whether it is recurve or compound? Any draw-weight limits etc?

 

[LAR-15]

OK so no permit for crossbows.

Thanks

 

[treeprof]

Thanks for the responses.

 

[Spinner]

what about a Lee Enfield .303 with a 10 round magazine? Is this a class E just because of capacity?

Nope, a SMLE is NOT an E category weapon simply because its a bolt action. The E category weapons are semi-automatics .... basically EBRs and the like .... in fact they're called "Military Styled Semi-Automatics" or MSSAs. High capacity bolt actions are OK.

What this does mean is that a Ruger 10/22 with a 10 round magazine is OK, but as soon as you put a high cap magazine into it, it becomes a baby-killing, monstrous piece of death-spitting evil and blood will run in the streets as a result. Go figure!!

Spinner

 

[LAR-15]

What is the magazine capacity limit in NZ?

 

[Spinner]

Magazine capacity for repeating firearms varies.

For semi-automatic centrefire weapons it is 7 rounds unless you possess an E category licence. For rimfire the mag capacity for a semi-auto firearm is 15 rounds (unless you have an E category firearms licence).

For pump, lever and bolt actions there is no restriction on magazine capacity.

Spinner

 

[LAR-15]

What is the limit for 'E' category firearms?

Thanks