So how do Kiwis go about getting their hands on guns?
The process for obtaining a basic firearms license is long, complicated and expensive. In other words, designed to weed out a broad portion of the population that the law deems unsuitable to possess a firearm.
After submitting your application to the NZ Police, you are signed up for a mandatory firearm safety course put on by the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council. The course runs about three hours. Experienced instructors offer advice covering the handling, operation and storage of firearms. It ends with a written exam. If you fail the exam, you must go back to the police station to register for the next available class, with no exceptions.
If you pass, your results are reported back to the NZ Police Arms Officer in preparation for the next step, the interview.
The interview was intense and personal. I observed the Arms Officer taking notice of the general state of our home as well as our demeanor. He confirmed we had a lockable cabinet for firearm storage, and separate lockable storage for ammunition. He asked pointed questions about alcohol and drug consumption, our domestic situation and our general mental health.
He also asked what we intended to use firearms for. Hint: personal or home protection is not an accepted rationale and would likely get you rejected – acceptable reasons are limited to hunting and/or target shooting.
Several weeks later, our New Zealand Firearms Licenses arrived in the mail.
While negotiating the license process, we had also started membership with the Christchurch Pistol Club. In order to legally obtain a handgun, your firearms license requires a special endorsement. Getting the pistol endorsement requires you to be a current full member of an accredited pistol club and be sponsored by the club after a 6 month probationary period. Once the endorsement has been received, you must attend at least 12 club activities every year to keep it. We are currently in month 4 of our probation, and making almost weekly trips to the range to shoot the club guns.
Violation of any gun laws, including those relating to storage, transport or sales can easily result in a loss of your endorsement, your full license or even criminal conviction. Handguns may only be transported to and from the range, gunsmith or police station, and must be in a locked container. If your handgun is stolen from your car or home, you will probably lose at least your endorsement if not your full license. Random home visits from the Arms Officer are not unheard of.
http://www.seattleglobalist.com/2012/08/06/getting-strapped-in-new-zealand-shooting/5740