Firearms registry - null declaration

J Dough made this Official Information request to New Zealand Police

Response to this request is long overdue. By law New Zealand Police should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.

From: J Dough

Dear New Zealand Police,

The Arms Act 1982 Section 94 covers what the NZ Police must record in the firearms registry, with Section 94(1)(e) includes the information for each firearms or related part.

Can the NZ Police please provide references to where in legislation there is the requirement for someone to make a declaration that they have nothing in their possession, i.e. firearm / restricted weapon / prohibited magazine, as covered by Section 94(1)(e).

Can they similarly provide all legal advice which they have to require people to confirm that they have nothing in their possession, i.e. firearm / restricted weapon / prohibited magazine, as covered by Section 94(1)(e).

As per Section 112 of the Official Information Act 1982 I can confirm that I am entitled to make requests under this Act as I satisfy criteria as listed in Section 12(1) as being someone who may make requests under the Act, which includes residing in New Zealand.

All information should be shared via the FYI.org.nz website (as per the guidance on https://fyi.org.nz/body/new_zealand_police).

Yours faithfully,

J Dough

Link to this

From: Ministerial Services
New Zealand Police

Tēnā koe

I acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act 1982 requests below, received by Police on 13 May 2024.

1. The Arms Act 1982 Section 94 covers what the NZ Police must record in the firearms registry, with Section 94(1)(e) includes the information for each firearms or related part.

Can the NZ Police please provide references to where in legislation there is the requirement for someone to make a declaration that they have nothing in their possession, i.e. firearm / restricted weapon / prohibited magazine, as covered by Section 94(1)(e).

Can they similarly provide all legal advice which they have to require people to confirm that they have nothing in their possession, i.e. firearm / restricted weapon / prohibited magazine, as covered by Section 94(1)(e).

2. Could the NZ Police please provide me with a copy of the following items of legislation as used by the NZ Police.

This should not be simply a link to the NZ legislation website, but what the NZ Police actually use for day to day policing.

Arms Act 1983
Arms Regulations 1992
Evidence Act 2006
Official Information Act 1982

Also confirm for each of the above if this is the latest version.

For the each of the above, also provide a copy of any guidance documentation for applying each piece of legislation.

3. Could the NZ Police please confirm that the Firearms Safety Authority is a part of the NZ Police.

Can they also confirm that anyone in the Firearms Safety Authority who uses a police rank, e.g. inspector, is employed by the NZ Police and is a sworn police officer.

4. Could the NZ Police please confirm if information that has been provided to the Firearms Safety Authority counts as being information provided to the NZ Police, as Regulation 37(5) of the Arms Regulations 1992.

5. Could the NZ Police please provide the definition of "enforcement action" as used by the NZ Police and any legal definition(s) / advice they have with how that word is to be used.

6. Could the NZ Police please provide me with a copy of all legal advice that they have to enable the NZ Police Commissioner to delegate the powers provided to them in the Arms Regulations 1992.

To illustrate what is being requested, Regulations 6(1A)(a), 9G(2) and 28F all explicitly list actions to be performed by "the Commissioner", with these being just a small section of the almost 200 such cases in the Arms Regulations 1992.

There are no examples in the Arms Regulations 1992 where there is the explicit permission to delegate from "the Commissioner" to someone else.

We have combined your requests into one OIA record. Your reference number is IR-01-24-16158.
You can expect a response to your request on or before 11 June 2024 unless an extension is needed.

Ngā mihi
Lisa
Ministerial Services
Police National Headquarters

show quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
New Zealand Police only: