The 2013 Arms Code, crafted in conjunction with the Mountain Safety Council and published by the Police, has this to say about firearms licencing and self-defence:
Important note: Firearms for self defence
Self-defence is not a valid reason to possess firearms. The
law does not permit the possession of firearms ‘in anticipation’
that a firearm may need to be used in self-defence.
This statement is false. The law says no such thing.
Statute law in New Zealand neither permits nor precludes self-defence as a valid reason to possess firearms, and neither should it, because the right to do so is already specifically acknowledged by the Bill of Rights 1688.
In fact the law says nothing at all about the matter. Neither the Arms Act 1983, nor the Policing Act 2008, nor the Crimes Act 1961, make any mention of firearms with regards to self-defence. The use of the word ‘anticipation’ does not occur anywhere in any of the three Acts. The Arms Code puts it in quotation marks, as if to indicate that it has some kind of authority that it does not in fact possess – but the word itself is completely absent from legislation.
The law is entirely silent on this matter and it is untruthful of Police to claim otherwise in their publishing of the Arms Code.
The word ‘firearms’ does not appear in the Policing Act either.
It is plainly and simply neither lawful nor legal for Police to make the arbitrary determination proclaimed in the Arms Code as above, or to pretend that it is supported by the law, or to attempt to enforce it. These actions are ultra vires on the part of Police.