Firearms oversight in New Zealand is changing to make our communities safer and to provide simpler, smarter services for firearms licence holders.

The Arms Bill was introduced in December 2025 and is currently progressing through the Parliamentary process.

It updates and modernises New Zealand’s firearms laws, following extensive feedback from the firearms community. As part of these changes, a new independent regulator — Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand - is proposed.

This means that when passed into law, all firearms regulatory services will be handled independently by Firearms Safety and Education New Zealand, while NZ Police continue to focus on criminal law enforcement.

We’ll keep you updated on the Bill’s progress and what this means for firearms users at this link: