ACT declares disagreement with coalition partners over firearm registry

Sunday, 11 May 2025

ACT has formally declared its disagreement with the coalition Government over the firearms registry, as Police Minister Mark Mitchell insists he will not compromise public safety.

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee, a former lobbyist for gun owners currently leading a review of the Arms Act, issued a statement on Sunday declaring her party’s unhappiness with policy surrounding the registry -- which she has long opposed.

The registry, a database of legally owned guns run by a police branch called the Firearms Safety Authority, emerged from the tightening of firearms regulations that came after the Christchurch mosque terror attack in 2019.

A national firearms group which McKee used to be secretary of, the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners, has strongly opposed the registry, claiming it poses privacy risks to firearms owners and a lack of evidence of its benefit.

In her statement on Sunday, McKee said a review of the usefulness of the registry ACT had obtained in its coalition agreement with National “fell short” of the standard expected. National had rejected her request for a more thorough review.

She had also sought to delay a requirement that firearm owners have to provide information for the registry within 30 days of purchasing ammunition, from June 24, 2025. Ammunition itself is not recorded in the registry.

“There is currently no clear definition of ammunition in the legislation, creating confusion. Pushing back the date to December 2026 would have provided time to build public trust in the registry and ensure clarity in the law. This recommendation was also rejected,” she said.

In response, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the National Party was “firmly opposed to any proposals that could negatively impact public safety”.

“The role of the firearms registry is to ensure a full picture of legal firearms ownership in New Zealand, which assists police in taking enforcement action against ‘straw buying’ - a practise in which a firearms licence holder purchases a firearm and on-sells it to a criminal,“ he said.

He said police had initially advised the Government that it was not able to implement the registering of firearm details by licence holders that purchase ammunition by June, so this had been deferred.

However, after some work, police said this was possible.

“Police advised that by not proceeding as planned to include the purchase of ammunition as an activating circumstance for the registry, we would be putting public safety at risk.

“I am not convinced that disagreeing with Police’s clear public safety advice on the basis of there being no definition of ammunition in legislation is a sufficient reason to jeopardise public safety.”

He said the review of the registry ‒ for which McKee had agreed to the terms of reference ‒ was completed late last year and “overwhelmingly supported the continuation of the registry”.

McKee also said the review of the registry produced a conclusion unsupported by evidence: that the registry was justified if it prevented “just two fatalities a year”.

“Without a clear model of risk reduction or causal link to public safety outcomes, that claim is difficult to defend.”

Mitchell said there was “value in even a single life being saved by having a firearms registry in New Zealand”.

There has been one prior occasion when ACT has pulled the “agree to disagree” card, over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, which would make big tech platforms pay for New Zealand news content. The bill has stalled nonetheless.

NZ First also invoked the “agree to disagree” clause over how the inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic response should proceed.

Unlike this latest instance, in both prior occasions the Cabinet minister responsible for the work was not of the party which declared its disagreement.

Nonetheless, McKee said that “despite these differences on the registry, our coalition partners continue to work constructively together to ensure the rewrite of the Arms Act delivers effective, evidence-based regulation that reflects best practice”.

“As we push ahead with that process public safety remains at the heart of what we are doing.”

Mitchell said despite the disagreement he continued a “strong, respectful working relationship with Minister McKee”, and both were focused on public safety.