Proposals to increase the licensing fees to legally own a firearm could lead to more unlicensed guns, says the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO).
A consultation process was opened this week by police, proposing to increase the cost of firearm licenses.
It comes as police are working through a backlog of applications which lead to a blanked extension being granted to firearms licenses last year.
The three options laid out in the document for cost recovery, with variable options for 5 and 10 year-long licences are: 25% of full cost, around $208.55 to $242.50, 50% of full cost, around $417.10 to $485.00 and 75% of full cost, around $625.60 to $727.50.
A police statement on Thursday said firearm licencing fees have remained static since 1999, costing around $126.50, less than 15% of the true price to issue them.
COLFO said the proposals would make licenses prohibitively expensive, and the price-tag would be unjustifiably high given the current state of licensing services.
"Police are reaching into the pockets of firearms owners to fund excessive paperwork processes that are abysmally operated and do not improve public safety," COLFO spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack said.
"We understand the need for fees to be moved up as they haven’t moved for more than 20 years, however an increase in fees for this mess is an insult.
"In these hard times, raising fees could push many firearm users to forego their license, stock up on ammo, and store their firearms in a safe place for the summer."
But police say the bureaucracy around applications is improving and updating fees to match 20 years of rising costs go towards funding these services.
Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming said: "Firearms applications are being processed faster, with the average time for a second or subsequent firearms licence application having reduced from nine months in May 2022, to seven months in October."
"We expect to see this downward trend continue."
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