Authorities says they are gaining a better understanding of the quantities and types of firearms lawfully held in New Zealand.
Today marks three years since the country's Firearms Registry began operating – police say nearly two-thirds of New Zealand's 219,955 licence holders have registered.
Data released today showed 138,115 licence holders had registered a total of 683,435 firearms, and a further 18,675 parts.
Each person registered an average of five firearms, with rifles (66%) being the most common, followed by shotguns (27%), pistols (5%), and others (1%).
Auckland was territorial local authority with the largest share at just under 80,000 (12%), followed by Christchurch at 27,250 (4%) and Southland at 22,000 (3%).
Launched in June 2023, the registry was one of the reforms proposed in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque terror attack.
All firearms licence holders have been given a deadline of June 24, 2028 to register.
An estimate of a million legal firearms
They were required to provide details such as the make, model and serial number of their weapons and to keep an ongoing record of sales and modifications.
Police expected around 1.1 million lawful firearms to be registered by the deadline if current trends continued.
A review into the registry released by the Ministry of Justice in May 2025 found it was helping protect the public from harm and should continue.
Te Tari Pūreke - Firearms Safety Authority acting executive director superintendent Bruce Bird said the registry was about making NZ safer.
"Through firearms licensing we’ve known how many people are legally able to use firearms in New Zealand, but until now we’ve not known the locations, numbers, or types of firearms each licence holder has in their possession," he said.
"The Firearms Registry is changing that, and we are well on the way to getting a really good picture of the legally held firearms in our communities."
Bird said most licence holders were law abiding, and the registration process was "just becoming another aspect of being a responsible licence holder".
Police acting on illicit gun ownership
In 2025, police seized 6760 firearms, the NZ Herald reported.
Ninety-six firearms were seized and 43 arrests were made during a week-long joint operation between Australia and NZ in October last year.
Police said at the time it was a successful example of partnership with the Firearms Safety Authority and showed "the benefits of the Firearms Registry in holding these individuals to account".
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