It is impossible not to see a pattern of sorts emerging from the news reports of proposals to
reduce fees for driving motor vehicles (which contribute directly more than 9,000 injuries and
deaths annually), and to increase fees for firearm licence holding (from which casualty numbers
are less than 500 annually, mostly from intentional self-harming).

This pattern is however riddled with anomalies: with more than 4 million holding licences to
operate any form of motor vehicle on a public road, there are only about 240,000 people licensed
for firearm possession and use. The former are a majority, the latter a minority.

Never mind the vastly higher number of casualties from motor vehicle misuse, if we relate these to the number of licensed users, we obtain a rate per 10,000 residents for motor vehicle misuse (causing a casualty or two) of more than 20 per 10,000, which when compared to the equivalent rate by firearm
licence holder, is almost identical, also at 20 per 10,000 residents.

Yet three-quarters of the firearm casualties are intentional, often by unwell people intent on self-destruction.
The questions must be asked, does putting fees up encourage licence holding?

And, if we knew the number of unlicensed firearm owners, what is their casualty rate?

Do you really feel safer?

MEDIA RELEASE; 16 March 2023

The New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) is deeply concerned with the recent proposal by the Police to significantly increase firearms licensing fees. 

The proposed fee hikes have the real potential to severely impact public safety, Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation and biodiversity goals, and other community good outcomes, particularly in terms of our ability to educate firearms users in the safe handling and storage of firearms and ammunition. 

Additionally, the proposed fees unfairly target lower-income recreational hunters and shooters, many of whom depend on hunting to provide food for their families, especially during the current cost of living crisis. 

At the NZDA, we believe that the proposed fee increases will not necessarily improve safety and security of firearms in New Zealand, instead the fee hikes will be used to pay for high-paying government jobs in Wellington. 

In fact, if fees are set at a level which is unaffordable to the 240,000 firearms licence holders, it may have the opposite effect by leading to decreased compliance and a decline in the number of licensed firearms owners. 

NZDA’s CEO, Gwyn Thurlow, says “the goal to impose cost recovery on a small pool of people at the cost of general public safety has to be weighed up. And that balancing act has to be considered in the context that firearms are used across our communities for farming, pest control and hunting purposes and those communities have been hit hard in recent times. Huge hikes would be unreasonable for the government to impose”.

The Police failed to do any community-impact or price-sensitivity analysis before coming up with their proposals. Recognising the potential adverse consequences of such a proposal, NZDA conducted a survey of over 2,500 people to obtain data on the community impact and gather their views on the proposal. Our survey data shows that most current licensed firearms owners are willing to accept a fee increase to their licences of between $150-$300.

“Owning and using firearms is now a privilege under the Arms Act but in New Zealand, unlike in most other countries, it has not just been accessible for the rich and privileged. Here we have a tradition of all Kiwis being able to hunt and gather food as a fundamental part of our culture and tradition,” Mr Thurlow said.

The NZDA has identified several concerns with Police’s proposal, including a likely significant drop in compliance, education, and safety, an increase in the size of the grey and black-market trade of firearms, a decrease in Police oversight over firearms possession and use, and a reduction in the use of formal dealers in exchange for informal, ad-hoc person-to-person sales of firearms and ammunition.

In addition, the proposed fee increases will cause a shortfall in the number of valued big game and pest animals harvested and controlled on both private and public land. This will have to be met by taxpayer and ratepayer agencies such as the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand, QEII Trust, and Regional Councils (each of which will in turn have faced high costs due to the same Police fees being imposed). This will have severe consequences for taxpayers and ratepayers as well as families dependent on hunted food/mahinga kai who are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

If firearms usage drops due to licensing being unaffordable, this will significantly increase browsing pressure on our native plant species which is in direct opposition to the goals of the Te Ara ki Mua Framework which states that the key action is to reduce browsing pressure and support ecosystem resilience by:

• Improving monitoring, delivery, and evaluation of wild animal management, and
• Coordinating efforts and enhancing capacity across the people, organisations, and agencies involved in wild animal management.

The NZDA believes that the proposed fee increases will also result in restricted access to sport shooting and recreational hunting, particularly for lower-income communities including rural and Māori communities and youth. It is likely that there will be significantly lower uptake of sports that require firearms if fees increase. As a nation that regularly wins medals at Commonwealth and Olympic Games in shooting disciplines, this would be detrimental to attaining world class skills.

In light of these concerns, the NZDA has requested that Police reconsider the proposed fee increases for firearms licensing and engage with the NZDA and the firearms community to discuss our concerns.

Mr Thurlow said, “At the moment a firearms licence is $126.50 but that is set to increase to somewhere in the order of $700-$1000. What this means is that the average person won’t afford a firearm, they won’t get into the sport of hunting or they may give it up because it is unaffordable. And that is a huge risk to biodiversity and public safety.”

Notes:

1. NZDA’s full submission to Police is available here.
2. NZDA has contacted Police and the Minister of Police on multiple occasions to request official information in response to many of our concerns. Those requests have thus far been denied or have been left unanswered. We can provide copies of those documents if required.

– ENDS –

 MEDIA CONTACT:

Gwyn Thurlow, CEO and General Counsel

M: 0274060060 

E: gwyn.thurlow@deerstalkers.org.nz

In a discussion document released yesterday entitled Arms regulations: Review of fees 2022 Police seek to recover the full cost of administering many of the laws and regulations covering the ownership and use of firearms, together with partial cost in some instances, from licensed firearm owners.

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/12/police-look-to-increase-firearms-licencing-fees-for-first-time-in-20-years-one-proposal-could-see-400-pct-hike.html

LICENSED FIREARMS OWNERS DON’T WANT TO HARM ANYONE.
So why is $1 Million a week being spent over regulating us?

As a shooting community we are very conscious of firearms safety and practice it carefully and consistently because we understand firearms and the potential dangers.
That is why there are so few serious incidents involving properly vetted and licensed citizens who own and use firearms for sport and recreation.

Anyone who looks at the evidence will be aware that many more people are harmed or killed every year due to the unsafe and irresponsible use of motor vehicles than the use of firearms. Legislation and enforcement should be beneficial but it does not appear to solve the problem of traffic violations, driver errors, collisions, injuries and deaths.

Improving roading, identifying and rectifying potential hazards and encouraging better driver competence and safety would reduce the risks of being injured by people driving motor vehicles that we are all exposed to everyday.

In comparison, firearms are not a great risk because they are used less frequently, by less people and not in public places where they might endanger other people.

Utilizing our scarce public resources (when we are already encumbered by national debt we cannot repay) where they can provide the most benefit for the most people, is the only practical and sensible course of action for people in government to follow.

The people of New Zealand would derive vastly more benefit from improvements in health services, education, affordable housing, dealing with violent criminals, public works and road safety, rather than imposing and trying to administer more restrictive regulations on owners and users of firearms (who are very conscious of their responsibility to use their firearms safely and in places where other people are not at risk of being harmed).

We do not need, and will not derive any benefit from this diversion of public money and resources, from more serious issues, to the regulation of responsible firearms owners who do not want to harm them.

Our tax money, national debt and government resources are being wasted and voters should be aware and concerned about the competence and responsibility of the people in government who are wasting that resource.

Police poor administration is jeopardizing legitimate business people.

Here in his own words is a story from a Firearms Dealer typical of the many complaints we are receiving says Neville Dodd, President of the Sporting Shooters Association.

“ The licence for this year, applied for back in August 2021, arrived in June 2022….. Ten months….for an annual licence…. the mind boggles.
Surely they can do better than this?

It used to take six weeks max before the government made all the rule changes…..

The bottleneck seems to be the dearth of vetting personnel, most of them having been dismissed it seems. The record keepers in Kapiti seem to be very efficient I have to say, but that avails us nothing if it takes months for vetters to fit you in, and now that ALL referees are re-interviewed every year, that makes it all the worse.

We live, nevertheless, in hope.”