NZ First MP Ron Mark: Firearms changes may have kept March 15 terrorist from getting gun licence

NZ First firearms spokesman Ron Mark says an independent authority may have prevented March 15 terrorist Brenton Tarrant from getting a firearms licence. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NZ First firearms spokesman Ron Mark says an independent authority in charge of firearms licences may have prevented Brenton Tarrant from legally buying military-style firearms.

Moving the administration of firearms licences away from police and into an independent entity is one of the changes that NZ First has successfully pushed for in the Government's second tranche of gun law reforms.

Progress on the Arms Legislation Bill had stalled as Labour and NZ First continued to negotiate, but the bill is now set down for its committee stage today.

The changes also include allowing farmers to use military-style firearms for pest control without having to set up a company, pushing out the implementation of a national register of firearms to three years instead of two, and reviewing the legislation after three years instead of five.

New legislation and funding will be needed for the new independent entity to oversee firearms licences, and options will be reported back to Cabinet by the end of the year.

Police have defended its handling of Tarrant's application for a firearms licence, but Stuff reported this morning that police failed to interview or even call a family member as required, instead relying on two men who met the terrorist through an internet chat room.

An applicant must provide two referees to be interviewed by police vetting staff, one of whom has to be a next of kin, and the second an unrelated person who knows the applicant well.

The application is also meant to be re-checked before a licence is issued, but no red flags were raised about the terrorist's incomplete file.

Tarrant was granted a licence and stockpiled military-style firearms that he used in his March 15 terrorist attack, in which he killed 51 people.

Mark said Tarrant may not have been granted a licence if his application had been vetted by an independent authority made up of experts.

"If the licensing process had been run differently, it would have definitely made a difference," he told the Herald.

"I've had this discussion before with the police. Why would you give someone a licence if you're unable to thoroughly backcheck their history, minimum 10 years?

"Why would you give them a licence at all if key parts of that interview process had not been completed?"

Police have previously admitted to dropping the ball over its handling of firearms licences in general, and Mark is happy the system will be taken off them.

"Their technical knowledge around firearms is poor and they've made mistakes. You need people who are specialists and who can maintain good, respectful relationship both with the police and with the firearms community."

The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners said that it showed the problem was not with the licencing regime, but in the way it was applied.

"Fifty one people died and 250,000 New Zealanders had their way of life severely curtailed because of one mistake: Police failed to apply the existing licensing laws," Colfo spokeswoman Nicole McKee said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would not be drawn on whether an independent authority would have made a difference in Tarrant's case, saying she awaited the findings of the royal commission, which is due at the end of July.

She trusted the police to properly manage firearms licences until an independent entity is established.

Mark said NZ First had pushed for more firearms exemptions for farmers, but had not been successful in securing more exemptions for competitive shooters.

He said the party would campaign for competitive shooters, but the party had yet to decide if it would campaign on scrapping the national firearms register.

Registers overseas were known to be inaccurate, poorly maintained, and "damned expensive for no gain", he said.

The register would now be pushed out for another year - to three years after the bill becomes law.

Act leader David Seymour, the only MP who has opposed all the Government's gun law reforms, said that NZ First was not the saviour for law-abiding firearms owners, but the enablers of the change.

Mark said it had been "virtually impossible" in the aftermath of March 15 to argue against the first tranche of reforms, which banned most military-style firearms.

"Fifty-one people were dead, 51 were wounded, some of whom who will carry disabilities for the rest of their lives. They will never be the same.

"[Those are] difficult circumstances to be trying to argue calmly around firearms legislation and the evidence to support some of the changes ... at a time when the Prime Minister has told the world we're going to do these things.

"In Coalition Government, you can be a stable, coherent, competent, capable government or be seen to be one that is divided and in disarray. Time will show some of the decisions may not necessarily be pragmatic or practical in the long run."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she trusts the police to handle firearms licences until an independent authority can be established. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Ardern said the scrapping of the requirement for farmers to engage a company for pest control was a response to feedback from the first tranche of reforms.

She acknowledged NZ First's role in the changes to the current bill, adding that an independent authority for the licensing regime had been recommended in a major report in 1997.

Gun Control NZ said NZ First was sabotaging the reforms by delaying the gun register by a year and moving the licencing regime to an independent entity.

"The overwhelming majority - 70 per cent - of New Zealanders want to be safe from gun violence and support stronger and more effective gun laws," Gun Control co-founder Philippa Yasbek said.

"NZ First are pretending to stand with the majority while pandering to the gun lobby."