Firearm collection in Stratford this week

A gun owner arrives at a gun buyback event in Northland with a newly illegal semi-automatic rifle. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Police are holding a gun collection event in Stratford on Friday and Saturday this week.

The event is at Te Kapua Racecourse with access off Flint Road, Stratford.

Owners of firearms can bring in their firearms from 10am – 3pm each day.

Gun owners can speed up the process by completing the online form on police.govt.nz before coming – including listing each firearm and/or each individual part they are bringing along.

The buyback / amnesty is one of the many taking place across the country in the wake of the Christchurch terror attack and a new law prohibiting most semi-automatic weapons.

The amnesty on possession of prohibited firearms, parts, and magazines will run until December 20 this year.

The amnesty period includes the ability for firearms holders to anonymously hand in any firearm/s no questions asked. These firearms will be destroyed and are not eligible for buy-back.

During the amnesty period it is not an offence to possess firearms that are newly prohibited, but you cannot use them.

The new regulations allow for the buy-back of newly prohibited firearms and parts from owners within a six month amnesty period (by December 20), 2019.

To receive compensation for prohibited firearms a person is required to have a valid firearms licence. If they are handing in parts and accessories included in the prohibited list, they do not require a firearms licence to receive compensation.