New Zealand Acts

ARMS ACT 1983 - SECT 59

59 Unsafe firearms or pistols

1 Where, in the opinion of a commissioned officer of Police, any firearm or pistol is unsafe, that commissioned officer may, by notice in writing to the owner of that firearm or pistol, require the owner to ensure that that firearm or pistol is brought to a safe standard of repair and produced to a member of the Police within a period or by a date specified in the notice.

2 If the owner of any firearm or pistol fails to comply with a notice given to him under subsection (1) in respect of that firearm or pistol, a commissioned officer of Police may, by notice in writing to that owner, require him to surrender that firearm or pistol forthwith to a member of the Police.

3 Any owner of a firearm or pistol who is required—

a) by a notice under subsection (1) to ensure that a firearm or pistol is brought to a safe standard of repair and produced to a member of the Police within a period or by a date specified in the notice; or

b) by a notice under subsection (2) to surrender a firearm or pistol to a member of the Police,—

may appeal under section 62 against the requirement, and that section shall apply accordingly with all necessary modifications.

4 An owner of a firearm or pistol commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to a fine not exceeding $10,000, if the owner, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a notice given to them under subsection (2) in respect of that firearm or pistol.

5 Nothing in this section applies in respect of an antique firearm.

Note: 1958 No 21 s 11A; 1968 No 21 s 4; 1976 No 151 s 7

History: Section 59(4): replaced, on 25 June 2020, by section 85 of the Arms Legislation Act 2020 (2020 No 23).