The Government is set to make an amendment to the Arms Act next week, which will ensure licensed gun owners with an expired licence aren't penalised.
It comes as police struggle with a backlog in applications for a firearms licence.
There are currently 9000 applications in the pipeline, with 2000 others waiting for police to process expired licences.
Police Minister Chris Hipkins said the current demand is outstripping police's capacity to process applications.
"Some firearms licence holders are unable to comply with the law due to no fault of their own," Hipkins said.
The ACT Party's firearms reform spokesperson Nicole McKee said the Government has "finally" listened.
"ACT pressured the Government into applying an extension to existing firearms licence holders in October 2021. Now we have compelled them to find an enduring solution to the issue," she said.
"I hope this will be a weight off many peoples' shoulders who were stressed about the expiration of their licence."
Council of Licenced Firearm Owners spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack told 1News he was glad to see the Government take this step.
"Although the relationship between licenced firearm owners and police has been damaged by the actions and attitudes of police and government in the past, this new move should be well-received by the licenced firearm owning community," he said.
Hipkins said the licencing cycle is the legacy of the 1992 change to the Act which terminated lifetime licences and required firearms owners to apply for 10-year licences.
"No provision was made to stagger the approach, resulting in significant peaks in application every 10 years which we are now experiencing," he said.
The amendment also includes a minor technical change which will enable police to issue notices and documents to an electronic address, in a bid to help improve efficiency for licence holders.
"The Bill will be on the order paper for the first reading on November 8 and I would like to see it progress as quickly as possible," Hipkins said.
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