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Arms Bill

Licences and approvals - Improvement notices

181: Improvement notices

You could also call this:

"What to do if you're not following the gun licence rules"

If you have a licence or are an approved ammunition seller, an officer of the Arms Regulator might think you are not following the rules. The officer can give you an improvement notice if they think you are not following the rules of the Act or regulations, or any conditions on your licence. The notice will tell you what you need to do to fix the problem. The improvement notice will be in writing and will say what you need to do to fix the problem, and by when. You will have to fix the problem by the date on the notice, or by a later date if the officer allows more time. The officer can give you more time to fix the problem if they want to. You must follow the instructions in the improvement notice. This means you must do what the notice says by the date it says, or you might get in trouble. The officer is trying to help you follow the rules so you can keep your licence or approval.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1533815.

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

Topics:

Crime and justice > Police and safetyWork and jobs > Job licenses

180: Revocation of approval, or

"When the boss of a government department can cancel your approval to sell ammunition"

182: Applications for endorsements: general, or

"How to apply for a special permit to own certain guns"

Part 3Licences and approvals
Improvement notices

181Improvement notices

This section applies if an officer of the Arms Regulator reasonably believes that a person who holds a licence, or is an approved ammunition seller, has failed, is failing, or is likely to fail to comply with—
1 or more applicable provisions of this Act or regulations; or
any conditions on a licence, approval, endorsement, or permit.

The officer may issue an improvement notice that—
states the applicable provision or provisions, or condition or conditions, that the officer reasonably believes the person has failed, is failing, or is likely to fail to comply with; and
requires the person to remedy the failure or prevent a failure from occurring; and
states the date by which the person is required to remedy the failure or prevent a failure from occurring.

An improvement notice must be in writing.
The officer may extend the time within which the person is required to remedy the failure or prevent a failure from occurring.
A person issued with an improvement notice must comply with the notice within the time specified in the notice (or within any extended time allowed by the officer).