| Arms Act 1983 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| New Zealand Parliament | |
| |
| Royal assent | 29 November 1983 |
| Commenced | 1 June 1984 |
| Administered by | New Zealand Police |
| Status: Amended | |
In New Zealand, the Arms Act 1983 is the primary statute controlling the possession and use of firearms and air guns.
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).
 | This section needs expansionwith: 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:
Amendments under the following statutes are not in force:
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]
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.
The right to keep and bear arms is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including security against tyranny, as well as hunting and sporting activities. Countries that guarantee the right to keep and bear arms include the Czech Republic, Guatemala, Ukraine, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States, Yemen, and Switzerland.
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 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.
Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon, either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's presence from surrounding observers. In the United States, the opposite of concealed carry is called open carry.
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.
A New Zealand firearms licence is personal to the licence holder and is issued by New Zealand Police to people aged over 16 who are considered to be fit and proper to possess firearms. Endorsements on the licence identify which categories of firearms a licence holder can lawfully possess.
Firearms Act is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Hong Kong, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom. This list includes not only Firearms Acts as such, but legislation of different names governing firearms and also other weapons.
The Firearms Act, 1995 is the law in Canada that regulates firearms possession, means of transportation, and offenses. It was passed after the École Polytechnique massacre.
This is a list of laws concerning air guns by country.
The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is still in force. The Act, as amended, tightens controls on the possession of firearms, and applies throughout the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland. On 15 November 1988, the Act gained royal assent. The Act was partly in force at royal assent. On 1 February 1989, fourteen sections of the first 25 sections of the Act came into force. On 2 April 1991, the Act came wholly into force.
Gun laws in Florida regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of Florida in the United States.
Irish law allows firearm possession on may-issue basis. With approximately seven civilian firearms per 100 people, Ireland is the 107th most armed country in the world.
The Arms Act, 1959 is an Act of the Parliament of India to consolidate and amend the law relating to arms and ammunition in order to curb illegal weapons and violence stemming from them. It replaced the Indian Arms Act, 1878.
The Arms 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. The Arms Amendment Bill was supported by all parties represented in Parliament except the opposition ACT Party.
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.