Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019

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Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand Parliament
Citation2019 No. 12
Royal assent 11 April 2019 [1]
Commenced12 April 2019
Legislative history
Introduced by Stuart Nash [1]
First reading 2 April 2019 [1]
Second reading 9 April 2019 [1]
Third reading 10 April 2019 [1]
Status: Current legislation

The Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 is an act of the New Zealand Parliament that amends the Arms Act 1983 to ban semi-automatic firearms, large capacity magazines, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms. It was introduced by Labour Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament Stuart Nash in response to the Christchurch mosque shootings. The Bill passed its third and final reading on 10 April 2019, receiving royal assent the following day. [1] The Arms Amendment Bill was supported by all parties represented in Parliament except the opposition ACT Party. [2] [3]

Contents

Legislation features

Key aims

The Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 seeks to remove semi-automatic firearms from public circulation by banning semi-automatic firearms, magazines, and parts that can be used to assemble prohibited firearms. The Act extends the ban on military style semi-automatics (MSSAs) to include most semi-automatic firearms and some shotguns. Some small-calibre rimfire semi-automatic firearms and lesser-capacity shotguns are excluded from the prohibition. These excluded firearms have a limited magazine capacity and are commonly used for farming, hunting, and recreational purposes. [4]

Proscribed items

Firearms and related devices prohibited under the Act include:

Other provisions

The Act provides exemptions to import, sell, supply, and possess semi-automatic firearms for licensed dealers, employees of the Department of Conservation, people engaged in pest control, bona fide firearms collectors, directors or curators of bona fide museums, approved broadcasters, and bona fide theatre companies or societies, or film or television production companies. The Act offers an amnesty for prohibited firearms, magazines, and parts to be surrendered to licensed dealers and the New Zealand Police by 30 September 2019, [4] later extended to 20 December 2019. [5] The Act also introduces several new offenses and penalties ranging from two to ten years for various offenses including unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, magazines, and parts; importing prohibited items without a permit; carrying a prohibited item with criminal intent; and knowingly supplying or selling prohibited weapons and parts. [4]

History

Background

Following the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the government would be changing New Zealand's gun laws. [6] [7] Attorney-General David Parker was later quoted as saying that the government would ban semi-automatic guns, [8] but subsequently backtracked, saying that the government had not yet committed to anything and that regulations around semi-automatic weapons was "one of the issues" the government would consider. [9] On 20 March 2019, Ardern announced that the government would ban all semi-automatic firearms and assault rifles and would also be introducing a buy-back scheme to remove all prohibited firearms from circulation. [10] [11] [12] On 21 March, as an interim step, the government reclassified most semi-automatic firearms as "military style semi-automatic firearms" for the purpose of the Arms Act 1983, pursuant to section 74A(c) of the statute. [13]

First reading

On 1 April 2019, Minister of Police Stuart Nash introduced the Arms Amendment Bill into parliament. The next day, leader of the House Chris Hipkins sought leave of the House for the bill to proceed more quickly than allowed by standing orders. Leave is denied if any member objects, and the opposition ACT Party's sole MP David Seymour had said he would object. However, Seymour was outside the House speaking to journalists [2] when Hipkins sought leave and so was unable to object, and leave was granted. This meant the bill could be passed quickly, without needing to be under urgency. It passed its first reading that day, with only Seymour voting against it, and was referred to the Finance and Expenditure select committee. [14] [2] [3] [1]

Select committee stage

On 3 April, the government announced that it would be holding submissions on the Arms Amendment Bill until 6pm on 4 April 2019. [15] Gun owners, including the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners chairman Paul Clark, Guns NZ chief executive Jim Yates, and Deerstalkers Association spokesperson Bill O'Leary, criticised the short submission time frame on the proposed law change. By the evening of 3 April, MPs had received thousands of submissions relating to the gun law. [16] [17] [18]

On 8 April, the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee recommended some minor changes to the Arms Amendment Bill including allowing pest controllers to use semi-automatic arms on private lands and allowing people to keep heirloom weapons. However, the committee rejected calls to exempt competitive shooters from the ban because that would allow more semi-automatic firearms to remain in circulation. In total, the committee received 13,062 submissions and 22 oral submissions: 60% supported the bill, 26% opposed the bill, while 14% expressed another opinion. The Act Party and the New Zealand Law Society both criticized the rapid passage of the legislation. [19] [20] [21]

Second and third readings

On 9 April, the Gun Amendment Bill passed its second reading. The following day, the bill passed its third reading. [1] The bill was supported by all parliamentary parties except the ACT Party's sole MP Seymour. Opposition National MP Judith Collins reiterated the National Party's support for the bill despite the party's failure to secure Firearms Prohibition Orders and an exemption in the bill for competitive shooting. [22] [23] [24]

In addition, the government announced a buyback scheme for prohibited firearms. Independent advisers will come up with a price list for the buyback scheme while a separate expert panel will determine fair compensation for high value firearms. Police Minister Stuart Nash has indicated that the buyback scheme could cost NZ$1 billion. The government included an out clause that it will not be compensating people who had obtained their arms illegally, but clarified that they would still be covered by the amnesty timeframe. ACT MP Seymour has called on the government to compensate gang members in order to convince them to surrender their arms. Nash announced that the Cabinet would consider the scheme's regulations and extending the amnesty by a month. [25] [26] [27]

On Thursday, 11 April 2019, the Governor-General of New Zealand, Patsy Reddy, signed the bill, officially enacting it into law, going into effect on 12 April 2019. [28]

Aftermath

On 20 June, Finance Minister Robertson and Police Minister Nash launched the Government's six-month firearms buy-back amnesty, which would run until 20 December. The Government allocated NZ$200 million to the firearms buy-back scheme. Licensed firearms owners will be eligible for the scheme. There are four collection options for the government's buy-back scheme: large-scale events at centralised community locations; handing over items at approved gun dealers; bulk pickups by Police; and at Police stations. [5] [29] The New Zealand Police has organized a series of nationwide local collection events for gun owners to hand in prohibited firearms. [30] By 22 July, over 2,000 guns had been handed in at buyback events in Auckland and Wellington over the past weekend. [31]

On 13 September 2019, Prime Minister Ardern and Police Minister Nash announced that the Government would be introducing an Arms Legislation Bill which would create a firearms register in order to stop the flow of guns to criminal groups. The bill was criticized by the opposition National Party and gun lobby groups, who claim it would punish lawful firearm owners and gun clubs. [32] [33] According to Al Jazeera and Reuters, more than 19,100 firearms and 70,800 gun accessories have been surrendered to the gun amnesty as of mid-September 2019. According to the Small Arms Survey, New Zealand is the 17th highest ranking country in terms of civilian gun ownership with a population of under 5 million and an estimated 1.5 million firearms. [34] [35] The buyback ended on 20 December 2019. During the buyback period, 56,250 firearms and 194,245 parts were surrendered to police, and 2,717 firearms were modified to meet the new legal standards. [36]

Related Research Articles

Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to keep and bear arms, and have more liberal gun laws than neighboring jurisdictions. Countries that regulate access to firearms will typically restrict access to certain categories of firearms and then restrict the categories of persons who may be granted a license for access to such firearms. There may be separate licenses for hunting, sport shooting, self-defense, collecting, and concealed carry, with different sets of requirements, permissions, and responsibilities.

Firearms in Canada are federally regulated through the Firearms Act and related provisions of the Criminal Code. Regulation is largely about licensing and registration of firearms, including air guns with a muzzle velocity of more than 500 ft/s or 150 m/s and muzzle energy greater than 4.2 ft⋅lb or 5.7 J.

In the United Kingdom, access by the general public to firearms is subject to some of the strictest control measures in the world. Subject to licensing, members of the public may own rifles and shotguns. However, most handguns have been banned in Great Britain since the Dunblane school massacre in 1996. Handguns are permitted in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man which have their own legislation. Scotland imposes an additional licensing regime on airguns, which is not mirrored in England and Wales.

Gun laws in Australia are predominantly within the jurisdiction of Australian states and territories, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. In the last two decades of the 20th century, following several high-profile killing sprees, the federal government coordinated more restrictive firearms legislation with all state governments.

Gun laws in Pakistan allow for the ownership of firearms in the country by the general population. Pakistan is one of the biggest open firearms markets in the world, and is in the modern era also known for its indigenous gunsmith tradition. The country is famous for producing clones of almost every notable weapon of the world. Although firearms are widely owned, heavy weaponry is permitted only in tribal areas within the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This includes the circulation of rocket-propelled grenades, short, medium, and long-range rockets, anti-aircraft guns, mortars and other types of firearms.

In the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is modulated by a variety of state and federal statutes. These laws generally regulate the manufacture, trade, possession, transfer, record keeping, transport, and destruction of firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories. They are enforced by state, local and the federal agencies which include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

A gun buyback program is one instituted to purchase privately owned firearms. The goal of such programs is to reduce the circulation of both legally and illegally owned firearms. A buyback program would provide a process whereby civilians can dispose of illicitly owned firearms without financial loss or risk of prosecution. In most cases, the agents purchasing the guns are local police. A gun buyback program can either be voluntary, or it can be mandatory with penalties for failure to sell.

The gun laws of New Zealand are contained in the Arms Act 1983 statute, which includes multiple amendments including those that were passed subsequent to the 1990 Aramoana massacre and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.

Military-style semi-automatic firearms in New Zealand are those semi-automatic firearms known in the United States as "assault weapons". The phrase is often abbreviated as military-style semi-automatic (MSSA). A New Zealand firearms licence-holder requires an E Category endorsement on their licence before they can possess this type of firearm, and a police-issued permit to procure each firearm is required. Arriving at a clear definition and common understanding of which semi-automatic firearms have a military-style configuration has dominated debate about gun-control legislation in New Zealand since 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arms Act 1983</span>

In New Zealand, the Arms Act 1983 is the primary statute controlling the possession and use of firearms and air guns.

In Germany, access to guns is controlled by the German Weapons Act which adheres to the European Firearms Directive, first enacted in 1972, and superseded by the law of 2003. This federal statute regulates the handling of firearms and ammunition as well as acquisition, storage, commerce and maintenance of firearms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in New York</span>

Gun laws in New York regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of New York, outside of New York City which has separate licensing regulations. These regulations are very strict in comparison to the rest of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in Maryland</span> Marylands gun law

Gun laws in Maryland regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Assault Weapons Ban</span> United States federal law

The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons as well as certain ammunition magazines that were defined as large capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-capacity magazine ban</span> Law restricting magazine capacity in firearms

A high-capacity magazine ban is a law which bans or otherwise restricts high-capacity magazines, detachable firearm magazines that can hold more than a certain number of rounds of ammunition. For example, in the United States, the now-expired Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 included limits regarding magazines that could hold more than ten rounds. As of 2022, twelve U.S. states, and a number of local governments, ban or regulate magazines that they have legally defined as high-capacity. The majority of states do not ban or regulate any magazines on the basis of capacity. States that do have large capacity magazine bans or restrictions typically do not apply to firearms with fixed magazines whose capacity would otherwise exceed the large capacity threshold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in the Northern Mariana Islands</span>

Gun laws in the Northern Mariana Islands regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. As the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth of the United States, many federal laws apply, as well as Constitutional rulings and protections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">52nd New Zealand Parliament</span> Meeting of the New Zealand Parliament

The 52nd New Zealand Parliament was a meeting of the legislature in New Zealand, which opened on 7 November 2017 following the 2017 general election and dissolved on 6 September 2020. The New Zealand Parliament comprises the Sovereign and the House of Representatives, which consists of 120 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand</span> Government of New Zealand (2017–2023)

The Sixth Labour Government governed New Zealand from 26 October 2017 to 27 November 2023. It was headed by Chris Hipkins, the Labour Party leader and prime minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christchurch mosque shootings</span> 2019 terrorist attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand

The Christchurch mosque shootings were two consecutive mass shootings on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019. They were committed by Brenton Tarrant who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, firstly at the Al Noor Mosque at 1:40 p.m. and later at the Linwood Islamic Centre at 1:52 p.m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arms Legislation Bill 2019</span> Arms Legislation Act 2020

The Arms Legislation Act 2020 is an act by the New Zealand Parliament that established a new regulatory regime to regulate the use and storage of firearms in New Zealand including creating a gun registry. The act passed its first reading on 24 September 2019 with the support of the Labour–led coalition government and its coalition partners New Zealand First and the Greens but was opposed by the opposition National and ACT parties. The act passed its second reading on 19 February 2020 and its third reading on 18 June 2020 and receiving royal assent on 24 June 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Devin, Collette (2 April 2019). "First new gun law since the Christchurch mosque attacks passes first reading". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 Whyte, Anna (2 April 2019). "Arms Amendment Bill passes first reading in Parliament". 1 News . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Legislation. Parliamentary Counsel Office . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 Roberston, Grant; Nash, Stuart (20 June 2019). "Firearms buy-back scheme strikes fair balance". Beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government . Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  6. ↑ O' Connell, Tim; Owen, Catrin; Cooke, Henry (17 March 2019). "Prime Minister says NZ gun laws will change in wake of Christchurch terror attack". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  7. ↑ Hemi, Tema (18 March 2019). "PM Jacinda Ardern announces reforms on NZ gun laws". Māori Television. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Walls, Jason (16 March 2019). "Christchurch mosque shootings: New Zealand to ban semi-automatic weapons". The New Zealand Herald .
  9. ↑ "Attorney-General David Parker back-tracks on comments about gun control". Radio New Zealand. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "PM Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand will ban all military-style semi-automatic weapons and all assault rifles". Radio New Zealand. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Ardern, Jacinda; Nash, Stuart. "New Zealand bans military style semi-automatics and assault rifles". Beehive.govt.nz. New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. ↑ Lyons, Kate (21 March 2019). "New Zealand Live Update Gun Laws". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  13. ↑ "Arms (Military Style Semi-automatic Firearms) Order 2019" (PDF). Legislation.govt.nz. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  14. ↑ Maoate-Cox, Daniela (7 April 2019). "How Parliament is fast tracking gun law reform". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Changing New Zealand's gun laws: expanding the types of firearms that are banned, and an amnesty on surrendering guns to Police". New Zealand Parliament. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  16. ↑ Gerritsen, John (3 April 2019). "Gun owners shocked at short submission time on firearms law change". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  17. ↑ McCulloch, Craig; Hutton, Catherine (3 April 2019). "Gun law changes: Thousands of submissions received". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  18. ↑ "Gun owners appalled over short submission time on firearms law change". 1 News. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "Firearms amendment: Select Committee makes few changes". Radio New Zealand. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "Select committee recommends Arms Amendment Bill to pass, with extra exemptions". The New Zealand Herald . 8 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  21. ↑ Devin, Collette (8 April 2019). "About 60 per cent of submitters support new gun law". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  22. ↑ "Firearms Amendment Bill passes final reading in Parliament". Radio New Zealand. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  23. ↑ "Bill banning military style semi-automatic weapons passes final reading". Newstalk ZB. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  24. ↑ "Gun bill to become law". Otago Daily Times. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  25. ↑ Patterson, Jane (10 April 2019). "First details about gun buyback scheme released". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  26. ↑ Devlin, Collette (10 April 2019). "Gun buyback framework established as first step towards determining compensation". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  27. ↑ Lynch, Jenna (10 April 2019). "Government's firearm buyback scheme gets bigger, more expensive, as new details revealed". Newshub . Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  28. ↑ Devlin, Collette (11 April 2019). "Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy officially signs gun ban into law". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  29. ↑ Cheng, Derek (20 June 2019). "Gun buyback scheme covers hundreds of firearms and parts, but excludes business losses". New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  30. ↑ "Local Collection Events - Amnesty and Buy-back". New Zealand Police. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  31. ↑ Chen, Liu (22 July 2019). "Over 2000 guns handed in at buyback events this weekend". Radio New Zealand . Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  32. ↑ Collette, Devlin (13 September 2019). "Government's tighter gun laws include register to track firearms and new offences and penalties". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  33. ↑ Bayer, Kurt (13 September 2019). "Firearms register announced as part of Government's second tranche of gun law reforms". New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  34. ↑ "New Zealand to further tighten gun laws after mosque shooting". Al Jazeera. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  35. ↑ Menon, Praveen (13 September 2019). "New Zealand's PM Ardern acts to tighten gun laws further, six months after attack". Reuters . Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  36. ↑ Williams, Caroline; Owen, Catrin (21 December 2019). "Firearms buy-back: More than 56,000 firearms handed in". Stuff . Retrieved 22 December 2019.
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