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Prior to 1984 all firearms in New Zealand were individually recorded on a
permit basis. To purchase a new or used Firearm you applied for "A permit to
procure" which specified the type of firearm, intended use, make, model
serial number etc. Once you had a permit you could then purchase the
firearm and the details were recorded by the police.

There were exceptions, airguns were not required to have a permit, and
the holder of a permit for shotguns could own any number of shotguns.

In 1984 the police had become aware that the records were too inaccurate
to be of use. This occured for a number of reasons - theft of firearms,
people buying or selling without the necessary paperwork, deceased
estates passing weapons on etc.

The 1984 Arms act phased out permits for firearms, and set about
licensing firearms users.

Under this scheme, you applied for a licence, sat a safety test, and were
checked for a criminal record. Once approved, you could buy or sell firearms
without any further checks being required. (This did not apply to
firearms with a barrel length of less than 18 inches or machineguns, but
there were basicly few other restrictions.

Pistol owners were required to be a member of a club for more than six
months pefore their first pistol purchase, and still had to undergo the
"permit to procure" paperwork. Extra critera included providing a safe
for pistol storage and so on, but pistol owners were not particularly
restricted beyond this. (No permits to carry are possible in NZ - a
pistol owner must carry his pistol in a locked box.)

Carry rules.
Firearms must not be openly displayed in a public place, but inside a gun
bag is ok. You can carry your firearm in your car, but it may not be
loaded or have a loaded magazine available. No other restrictions apply.

In 1992 ? the law was amended as the result of a number of people being
shot in Aramoana (Near Dunedin.) The law was changed to add very strict
requirements on the ownership of Semi-Automatic rifles with a magazine
capacity of greater than 7 rounds. (The law also used critera such as
flash suppresors, pistol grips etc to put weapons into the "Military
Style Semi Automatic Class - MSSA)

Holders of weapons of this nature had to pass strict eligibility critera,
pay steep fees, and provide tough security for the firearms.

The MP for Whangarei (The Rt Hon John Banks) claimed that there were
65000 MSSAs in New Zealand at the time.)

Currently 5000 have been registered.

The 1992 amendments introduced fees, and limited licence periods without
automatic renewal for all licence holders. It also increased the security
requirements for all licence holders, and now a complicated vetting
system has been introduced to check all licence holders when they apply
for renewal. Some 360,000 people are currently licenced under the old
scheme, but only about 50% of the A and B Surnames that were required to
apply for the New Licence by 1995 have bothered.

New Zealand has a very high per capita rate of firearm ownership, with
more than one in ten kiwis licenced. Estimates of the number of firearms
in N.Z. vary, but it would IMHO be about 3 for each licensed user, plus
collectors, pistol club members etc doubling this amount.

Firearm related crime is generally very low, certainly a small part of 1%
of reported crime, and the police remain generally unarmed.

IMHO the 1984 Act was well planned, and worked well - the 1992 amendments
have generally been ineffective with about 3 - 5 % compliance, although
this will rise as the police follow up earlier licence records.

Many of the changes in the 1992 amendments were rushed, and badly
planned, and have resulted in the formation of pro-gun lobby groups,
rather than anything else.

I hope this helps a bit, but you can always try the NZSSA for more
information.

Davi Reid, Wellington, New Zealand