New Zealand Police business unit Te Tari Pūreke — Firearms Safety Authority says a project to clear clear thousands of dated firearms licence applications has concluded.
The Pipeline Reduction Project saw 5701 "ringfenced" age applications processed as well as an additional 1508 age applications also resolved.
Te Tari Pūreke executive director Angela Brazier said when the pipeline reduction project began last year, the average age of an application in the licensing system was 222 days or over seven months.
"Today, the average age of an application is currently 70 days — under three months," she said.
The median age of all files on hand has fallen from 152 days in July 2022, to 41 days as present.
"Getting on top of this backlog is a first step, and we hope a signal that under Te Tari Pūreke firearms licensing systems will be more responsive and effective," she said.
When the project began in mid-2022, Te Tari Pūreke had a total of 11,096 firearms licence applications for processing. Now this application caseload had dropped to 5403 — an overall 51.3% reduction.
