The announcement by Police today that another 39 specific firearms are banned means Minister of Police Stuart Nash must extend the amnesty period to prevent creation of “paper criminals”, says the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).
Police today published what it says is the “final” amended price list for prohibited firearms and parts eligible for compensation under the buyback scheme. This adds a further 39 firearms, to take the total number of specified models to 454. In addition, 49 parts are now on the list, including the addition of AR lower receivers (without specified compensation).
COLFO spokesperson Nicole McKee said the amnesty period had to be extended because the Government has been adding over 40 new firearms and parts every month. Only this week Police had also finally made a long-awaited decision on whether semi-automatics would be allowed to be modified to single-shot.
“The ban was conceived in a hot rush – forcing Police to continuously amend it.
“There is no way this is the ‘final’ list. Dozens of models and parts, equivalent to many thousands of items, remain to be declared prohibited and compensated.
“It is very likely that after formal prohibition starts, Police will still not have made decisions on specific firearm models and parts covered by the prohibition. That will create instant paper criminals out of firearm owners who have justifiably been waiting for decisions on their particular firearms.
“The Police price list has been amended multiple times because the initial work on the ban under-estimated the variety of firearms and formats, and under-estimated the number of affected firearms. It’s frustrating for licenced owners who have had to do much of this job for them, and are still missing out on compensation.”
McKee said the amnesty period must be extended by at least six months from the final price list or from when the final decision is made about the final model, part, or modification.
“If the Government does not extend the amnesty, it is likely to turn hundreds of people into instant criminals – just because the Police have not had time to work through every variation of affected firearm and part,” she said.
