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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In New Zealand, the Arms Act 1983 is the primary statute controlling the possession and use of firearms and air guns.
| Arms Act 1983 | |
|---|---|
| |
| New Zealand Parliament | |
| |
| Royal assent | 29 November 1983 |
| Commenced | 1 June 1984 |
| Administered by | New Zealand Police |
| Status: Amended | |
The basic premise of the New Zealand arms control regime is the licensing of individuals as being fit and proper persons to possess firearms. Firearms themselves are not generally registered or licensed, although exceptions exist for pistols, restricted weapons and military-style semi-automatic firearms (MSSAs).
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: background context for passing the Act and various amendments. You can help by adding to it. (January 2019) |
The act came into force on 1 June 1984, replacing the Arms Act 1958 (1958 No 21).
It has subsequently been amended by the following statutes:
The Act is administered by the New Zealand Police. The full legislative framework of the arms control regime is defined by the Act in conjunction with:
The act grants the police considerable discretion in the administration of the arms control regime. Police policy in respect of the arms regime is documented in their Arms Manual 2002.[1]
The act contains provisions for the following:
The Thorp report, or to give the report its formal title: Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand (ISBN 0-477-01796-7), was a Report of an Independent Inquiry Commissioned by the Minister of Police by former judge Thomas Thorp that was commissioned in July 1996 and reported back to the Minister in June 1997. The inquiry was conducted contemporaneously with the official inquiries into the Dunblane massacre in Scotland and the Port Arthur massacre in Australia. The report made 28 broad recommendation statements, with some statements having up to 5 detailed recommendations. Among other things, the report recommended that the 1983 Act be completely rewritten in plain English, that firearms licensing be managed by an independent Firearms Authority, rather than Police, and that limits be placed on the number of firearms a person could own and that licences be specific to only those firearms that were registered against the licence.
In March 2016, Parliament's Law and Order Select Committee announced an Inquiry into issues relating to the illegal possession of firearms in New Zealand. In its final report the committee made 20 recommendations, though the government of the day only accepted 7, Parliament was unable to pass the proposed legislation before the 2017 general election intervened and the bill lapsed because it was not supported by the new government.
In response to the Christchurch mosque shootings, the act was amended to ban semi-automatic firearms, magazines, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms via the Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019,[2] with the support of all parties represented in parliament except the opposition ACT Party.[3][4]
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