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Arms Bill

Licences and approvals - Expiry, surrender, suspension, and revocation of licences - Offences relating to expiry, surrender, and revocation of licences

167: Offence to fail to deliver arms items and ammunition following expiry, surrender, suspension, or revocation of firearms licence or visitor licence

You could also call this:

"What happens if you don't hand in your guns when your licence ends"

If your firearms licence expires, is surrendered, suspended, or revoked, you must give any arms items or ammunition to an officer of the Arms Regulator. You can get in trouble if you do not do this without a good reason, and you might go to prison for up to 6 months or pay a fine of up to $10,000. This also applies to visitor licences that expire, are surrendered, or revoked, and you must follow the rules in section 140(1)(b), 147(2)(b), or 157(2)(b) for firearms licences, or section 144(b) or 161(2)(b) for visitor licences.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1533793.

This page was last updated on 8 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Police and safetyHousing and property > Home safety and repairs

166: Offence to fail to surrender records when business or curator licence revoked, or

"Breaking the law by not giving records when your licence is taken away"

168: Offence to carry on business activities after expiry, surrender, or revocation of business licence, or

"Breaking the law by running a firearms business without a valid licence"

Part 3Licences and approvals
Expiry, surrender, suspension, and revocation of licences: Offences relating to expiry, surrender, and revocation of licences

167Offence to fail to deliver arms items and ammunition following expiry, surrender, suspension, or revocation of firearms licence or visitor licence

A person whose firearms licence has expired, or has been surrendered, suspended, or revoked, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or to a fine not exceeding $10,000, if the person, without reasonable excuse, fails to deliver any arms items or ammunition to an officer of the Arms Regulator in accordance with section 140(1)(b), 147(2)(b), or 157(2)(b).
A person whose visitor licence expires, or has been surrendered or revoked, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or to a fine not exceeding $10,000, if the person, without reasonable excuse, fails to deliver any arms items or ammunition to an officer of the Arms Regulator in accordance with section 144(b) or 161(2)(b).