ACT has been shown an email chain between the Firearms Safety Authority and an Officer of the New Zealand Army applying for a renewal of his firearms licence.

The applicant was told that, because he has spent more than six months in Afghanistan in the last ten years, he needs a criminal record check from the local Afghan authorities.

The incredulous applicant had to explain to the Firearms Safety Authority that he was in Afghanistan serving Her Majesty in hostilities between New Zealand’s armed forces and the Taliban.

The Taliban, being the current authority in Afghanistan, would be the same group from whom he would now have to request a positive reference.

“What an absolute doozy from the Firearms Safety Authority,” says ACT Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron.

“Experiences like this are exactly why licenced firearms owners have become fed up with the way Police exercise their powers through the Firearms Safety Authority.

“Veterans often want to maintain their interest in and skills with firearms after leaving the armed forces. But they’ve told me they are often treated with suspicion by the Police, as if they are all unstable and PTSD-addled. This is an utterly disrespectful way to treat those who fought for peace overseas.

“ACT’s coalition commitment secured a transfer of responsibility for the Firearms Safety Authority from Police to another department – work that Hon Nicole McKee is now progressing."

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