Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says elements of the new licensing requirements will still be onerous and time-consuming.
Police have made a small dent in the waiting list for those seeking a new firearm licence or to renew an existing one, but a significant backlog remains.
Figures provided by New Zealand Police reveal that as of January 1, 3502 people have been waiting six months for their licences to be renewed and a further 5231 have been waiting a year for a new licence.
Up to October last year, 4257 licence holders were waiting six months for a renewal and 5500 were waiting a year for a new licence.
A police spokesperson says the delays are caused by issues associated with covid-19 and licence holders are advised to apply for a renewal of their licence six months before the expiry of their current licence.
Police have a specific team working to address the backlog.
Meanwhile, the latest tranche of new Government changes to new firearm licensing regulations could have been much more intrusive than what has transpired.
Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says Government officials initially wanted firearms and ammunition to be secured in a separate locked box when being transported, even if locked in a car boot.
In addition, it wanted firearms or ammunition never to be left unattended when being transported and restrictions on carrying firearms on public land until it was pointed out that would preclude hunting on Department of Conservation land.
“We were able to make good changes to the policy than what it could have been,” Hoggard said.
Police Minister Poto Williams says the changes give greater clarity to the transporting of firearms in vehicles.
That ambiguity saw people taking firearms with them whenever they left a vehicle.
“This can involve carrying the firearm in public view and into public premises,” Williams said in a statement.
Hoggard says elements of the new licensing requirements will still be onerous and time-consuming.
New licence applicants will be required to provide additional information, including a list of countries travelled to or visited in the previous five years involving stays of 14 days or more, and the length of stay in each country address.
“This is a key change to the firearms vetting process, which will help ensure anyone with red flags in other jurisdictions will be identified,” the Minister said.
“Police can then consider whether these individuals are fit and proper to hold a firearms licence in NZ.”
Other changes to regulations are designed to be tailored to the requirements and activities of individual firearms dealers and to provide information for the importation of ammunition and pistol carbine conversion kits.
It also specifies the nature and type of records needed to be kept by businesses selling ammunition.
