Arms Act 1983


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

Basic principles of the Act

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.

History of the Act

The act came into force on 1 June 1984, replacing the Arms Act 1958.
It has subsequently been amended by the following statutes:
  • Arms Amendment Act 1985
  • Crimes Amendment Act 1986
  • Arms Amendment Act 1987
  • Public Finance Act 1989
  • Arms Amendment Act 1989 - amendment repealed by Arms Amendment Act 2000 : section 3
  • Regulations Act 1989
  • Arms Amendment Act 1992
  • Domestic Violence Act 1995
  • Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996
  • Crimes Amendment Act 1997
  • Postal Services Act 1998
  • Anti-Personnel Mines Prohibition Act 1998
  • Arms Amendment Act 1999
  • Arms Amendment Act 2000
  • Visiting Forces Act 2004
  • Civil Aviation Amendment Act 2007 : sections 6 and 12
  • Policing Act 2008
  • Cluster Munitions Prohibition Act 2009 : section 20
  • Criminal Procedure Act 2011 : section 413
  • Search and Surveillance Act 2012 : section 323
  • Arms Amendment Act 2012
  • Legislation Act 2012 : section 77
  • Holidays Amendment Act 2013 : section 8
  • Legislation Amendment Act 2015 : section 14
  • District Court Act 2016 : section 261
  • Customs and Excise Act 2018 : section 443
  • Family Violence Act 2018
  • Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019

Previous legislation

  • Arms Importation Act 1845
  • Arms Act 1846
  • Arms Act 1860
  • *Arms Act Continuance Act 1861
  • *Arms Act Continuance Act 1862
  • *Arms Act Continuance Act 1863
  • *Arms Act Amendment Act 1869
  • Arms Act 1880
  • Consolidated Statutes Enactment Act 1908 - Consolidation and reprint of Arms Act 1880 as the Arms Act 1908
  • Arms Act 1920
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1921
  • *Police Offences Act 1927 section 28
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1930
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1934
  • *Summary Proceedings Act 1957 - Parts of Third Schedule relating to Police Offences Act 1927 section 28
  • Arms Act 1958
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1962
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1964
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1966
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1968
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1971
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1974
  • *Arms Amendment Act 1976

Operation of the Act

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 Arms Order 1984
  • The Arms Regulations 1992
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.

Provisions of the Act

The act contains provisions for the following:

Inquiries

Thorp report

The Thorp report, or to give the report its formal title: Review of Firearms Control in New Zealand, 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.

2016 Select committee Inquiry

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.

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

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, with the support of all parties represented in parliament except the opposition ACT Party.