“How many privacy breaches will it take for the Government to admit that a firearms register is going to put firearms owners in danger?," asks ACT’s firearms spokesperson Nicole McKee.
“After the Firearms Safety Authority accidentally released over 140 email addresses of licensed firearms owners, now it’s emerged that three firearms licence holders’ email addresses were accidentally shared with each other in September 2022.
"Firearms owners already had little confidence in Police's ability to securely maintain and administer a firearms registry and this latest mistake reinforces that. If Police can't even tell the difference between Cc and Bcc in an email, how on earth can they keep records secure?
“The Firearms Safety Authority doesn’t even believe an apology is necessary for the 2022 breach. I suspect more breaches have occurred and will now come to light.
“These episodes demonstrate that the full registration of firearms is a wasteful and dangerous exercise. ACT will repeal it.
“It also shows that the administration of information about firearms and their licensed owners needs to be removed from New Zealand Police and placed under the care of a truly independent and trusted firearms authority, which ACT has committed to establishing.”