Firearms owners from the Central Police District have been some of the most responsive to registering their firearms in the new Registry.
Firearms licence holders from Central have registered 12,119 firearms to date, just behind Southern District’s 12,616 registered firearms, and Canterbury’s 14,289 firearms registered.
Central covers the Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatū regions and stretches as far south as Ōtaki in the Horowhenua, and Eketāhuna in the Wairarapa.
Firearms Safety Authority, Te Tari Pūreke, Executive Director Angela Brazier says this result isn’t surprising as at the end of December 2023, there were 25,924 firearms licence holders in Central, the third highest concentration of lawful firearms users in the country.
Licenced firearms owners across the country have responded well to the Registry, with it taking just seven months to get to the 100,000th firearm recorded into the system. This is from nearly ten percent of the approximately 235,000 licence holders in New Zealand.
Ms Brazier says “I’d like to thank all responsible firearms owners who have filled in the Registry. The Firearms Registry is all about preventing firearms getting into the wrong hands. Digitising the licencing system enhances our ability to detect unlawful and criminal activity.
“Along with preventing the sale and purchase of stolen firearms, the Registry provides a better way for Police to trace where firearms used by criminals have come from.”
Disrupting the flow of firearms to criminals works in tandem with other Policing initiatives that target organised criminal groups and gangs. These separate but complementary strategies are together making it harder for criminals to possess and use firearms and are making our communities safer.
“When fully rolled out, the Registry will provide a picture of all lawfully held firearms and arms items in New Zealand. This will give greater transparency when firearms are changing hands and ultimately make the availability of firearms to the black market more difficult,” Ms Brazier says.
To register your firearms online head to www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz or give us a call on 0800 844 431 (Monday to Friday 8.30am-5pm, except public holidays).
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre