17 March 2025
IR-01-25-4452
Sam Ballantine
[FYI request #29980 email]
Tēnā koe Sam
Thank you for your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request dated 6 February 2025
where you asked for information relating to firearms licence and endorsement holder’s
distribution by postcode nationally.
I have answered each question below.
1. A breakdown of number of firearms licence holders by postcode
To provide the number of firearms licence holders per postcode could potentially identify
where concentrations of licence holders are, thereby putting them and non-firearms
licence holders at greater risk for harm, for example, burglary. Therefore, the information
you have requested is refused under the following sections of the OIA:
•
6(c) prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention,
investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial; or
•
6(d) to endanger the safety of any person.
However, we can provide the summary data as of 11 February 2025 at which time there
were 230,275 active Individual firearms licence holders and 426 active Dealer firearm
licence holders. (Data contained in this response is drawn from a dynamic operational
database and is subject to change as new information is recorded or updated).
I refer you to Table 1 below that shows an overview of the number of active licence
holders broken down by those who have postcodes1, ‘address not Geocoded’ and
‘Overseas address’, nationally as of 11 February 2025.
1 This is the postcode where the licence holder resides. There are some instances where the address is not
correctly geocoded to an address, and these are shown as 'Not Geocoded'. Police still have the address of each
individual, but the geographic coordinates do not map directly to a postcode. The 'Overseas' number includes
any licences held by individuals who are currently overseas but maintain their New Zealand firearms licence.
Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority
Telephone: 0800 844 431
www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz
Te Tari Pūreke – Firearms Safety Authority is a business unit of New Zealand Police.
Table 1: Number of Active firearms licence holders and Active Dealer Firearms
Licence holders broken down by Postal Code, Address not Geocoded and
Overseas address, nationally as at 11 February 2025
Active Individual
Active Dealer Firearms
Postal Code Category
Firearms Licence Count
Licence
Postal Code Available
228,168
411
Address Not Geocoded
1,365
15
Overseas Address
742
0
Totals
230,275
426
Source: NIA, retrieved 11 February 2025.
Of the 230,701 active Individual and Dealer firearms licence holders, 228,168 Individual
and 411 Dealer firearms licence holders have postal codes of the licence address
available for extraction in NIA. These licence holders are spread across a total of 1,118
postal codes.
However, I can provide the number of firearms licence holders broken down by Police
district as at 11 February 2025. I refer you to Table 2 below. (Please see Appendix 1
(attached) for a map of Police Districts).
Table 2: Number of individual firearms licence holders broken down by Police
District nationally as at 11 February 2025
Police District
Number of Individual Firearms
Licence holders
Northland
12,750
Waitemata
14,188
Auckland City
5,277
Counties Manukau
10,917
Waikato
21,467
Bay of Plenty
24,088
Central
25,441
Eastern
14,839
Wellington
15,039
Tasman
18,691
Canterbury
34.944
Southern
31,680
Note that a licence holder may have a physical overseas address along with a separate
security address in New Zealand. The legislation does not prohibit a licence holder
moving overseas during the life cycle of their firearms licence; however, they are required
to inform Te Tari Pūreke of any change of address in accordance with section 34 (1) of
the Arms Act 19832.
2 34
Notification of change of address
(1) A holder of a firearms licence who changes their address must, within 30 days after doing so, give
written notice of the change to a member of the Police.
2. A breakdown of number firearms licence endorsements by endorsement type
and postcode.
To provide the number of firearms licence endorsement holders per postcode could
potentially identify where concentrations of licence holders are, including Restricted and
Prohibited firearms collectors, thereby putting them and non-firearms licence holders at
greater risk for harm, for example, burglary. Therefore, the information you have
requested is refused under the following sections of the OIA:
•
6(c) prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention,
investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair trial; or
•
6(d) to endanger the safety of any person.
However, I can provide summary data as of 11 February 2025, that shows there are
11,084 active endorsements held by 6,409 active Individual firearms licence holders (see
Table 3), and 717 active endorsements3 held by 218 active dealer firearm licences (see
Table 4) as at 11 February 2025.
Table 3: Number of Active Endorsements on Individual Firearms Licences broken
down by Postal Code Available, Address not Geocoded, Overseas Address and
sum, nationally as at 11 February 2025
Endorsement Type
Postal Code
Address
Overseas
Sum
Available
Not
Address
Geocoded
'B' Pistol Club Member - Target
3,766
9
3
3,778
Pistol
'C' Bona Fide Collector -
2,882
7
9
2,898
Pistol/Restricted Weapon
'C' Memento/Heirloom -
451
1
1
453
Pistol/Restricted Weapon
'C' Theatrical
121
0
1
122
'F' Pistol - Dealer Employee
42
0
0
42
'F' Prohibited Firearms - Dealer
38
0
0
38
Employee
'F' Prohibited Magazines - Dealer
37
0
0
37
Employee
'F' Restricted and Pistol - Dealer
80
1
1
82
Employee
'F' Restricted Weapons - Dealer
38
0
0
38
Employee
'L' Living History Member -
21
0
0
21
Pistol/Restricted Weapon
'L' Living History Member -
19
0
0
19
Prohibited Firearm
'L' Living History Member -
20
0
0
20
Prohibited Magazine
'L' Living History Theatrical
12
0
0
12
Armourer - Pistol/Restricted Weapon
3 An active endorsement holder is defined as individuals who are legally allowed to possess firearms due to
holding both a current firearms licence and endorsement. This includes endorsements that have expired but the
endorsement holder has applied to renew their endorsement before expiry. These are treated as "Current" until
a final decision has been made.
Endorsement Type
Postal Code
Address
Overseas
Sum
Available
Not
Address
Geocoded
'L' Living History Theatrical
10
0
0
10
Armourer - Prohibited Firearm
'L' Living History Theatrical
11
0
0
11
Armourer - Prohibited Magazine
'M' Ammunition Seller
46
0
0
46
'M' Possess Prohibited Ammunition
284
1
1
286
'P' Collector - Prohibited Firearm
1,109
4
3
1,116
'P' Collector - Prohibited Magazine
1,234
4
4
1,242
'P' Memento/Heirloom - Prohibited
26
0
0
26
Firearm
'P' Memento/Heirloom - Prohibited
24
0
0
24
Magazine
'P' Pest Control - Prohibited Firearm
310
1
0
311
'P' Pest Control - Prohibited
310
1
0
311
Magazine
'P' Prohibited Firearms and
7
0
1
8
Magazines - Dealer Employee
'P' Theatrical - Prohibited Firearm
46
0
0
46
'P' Theatrical - Prohibited Magazine
54
0
0
54
'T' Theatrical Armourer -
11
0
0
11
Pistol/Restricted Weapon
'T' Theatrical Armourer - Prohibited
11
0
0
11
Firearm
'T' Theatrical Armourer - Prohibited
11
0
0
11
Magazine
Sum of Endorsements
11,031
29
24
11,084
Source: NIA, retrieved 11 February 2025.
Of the 11,801 active endorsements held under active Individual and Dealer firearms
licences, 11,031 Individual and 690 Dealer firearms licence holders have postal codes of
the licence address available for extraction in NIA. These licence holders are spread
across a total of 892 postal codes.
I refer you to Table 4 below that shows the number of active endorsements held on
Dealer Firearms licences broken down by post code category and sum, nationally as at
11 February 2025.
Table 4: Number of Active Endorsements held on Dealer Firearms Licences broken
down by Post Code Category and Sum, Nationally as at 11 February 2025
Endorsement Type
Postal Code
Address Not
Overseas
Sum
Available
Geocoded
Address
'D' Pistols
201
8
0
209
'D' Prohibited Firearm
159
6
0
165
'D' Prohibited Magazine
159
6
0
165
'D' Restricted Weapons
171
7
0
178
Sum of Endorsements:
690
27
0
717
Source: NIA, retrieved 11 February 2025.
You can view a distribution of individual licence holders and dealer licence holders by
Police District at the following link. This data is correct as at 31 January.
https://www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2025-
02/Firearms%20Public%20Dashboard%20-%20January25.pdf
You can also view a distribution of ‘Active individual licence endorsements by District’.
You can click on the tab “Active endorsements by District” along the bottom of the
spreadsheet, to take you to the relevant table.
https://www.firearmssafetyauthority.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2025-
01/Firearms%20Information%20Summary%20Report%20 2024-12-31.xlsx
Data contained in this response is drawn from a dynamic operational database and is
subject to change as new information is recorded or updated.
You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review this decision if you are not satisfied
with the response to your request. Information about how to make a complaint is
available a
t: www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
For your information, Police has developed a process for proactive release of information,
so the anonymised response to your request may be publicly released on the New
Zealand Police website.
Nāku noa, nā
Matthew Boddy
Acting Director Operations
Firearms Safety Authority
Appendix 1: Map of Police Districts broken down by Individual licence holders
as at 11 February 2025
