Public consultation on the rewrite of the Arms Act 1983 is now underway in New Zealand.
The Cabinet has agreed to undertake public consultation, a move welcomed by Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee. The consultation period will run from January until the end of February next year and aims to gather views from all New Zealanders on their thoughts about a modern firearms regime. This comes over 40 years after the original Act was enacted.
According to Mrs McKee, the current Act has been amended several times in response to tragic events but these changes were often made quickly without thorough review. The Government now wants to rewrite the Act to provide greater protection of public safety and simplify regulatory requirements for firearms users, who are mainly law-abiding individuals.
The submissions gathered through the consultation will be used to inform policy development led by the Ministry of Justice. A bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament later next year, with further opportunities for public input through the select committee process.
The discussion document and details on the consultation will be available on the Ministry of Justice website from January 13th, with submissions closing on February 28th.