The Government is changing firearms laws in a bid to ease a massive backlog of people seeking a gun license.
For some, the wait times are so long for renewals their existing licenses run out and they risk becoming criminals - but that's about to change.
Love them or hate them, plenty of Kiwis still want them.
Like keen hunter Tim Purchas, but the trouble is he's been waiting a long time to get a license to own one.
"The process has just been really slow, I applied in 2020 and two years later I am still waiting," Purchas said.
There are more than 12,000 people on the waitlist for a new firearms license. Of those, half have been waiting six months or longer, 1569 for at least a year and 72 have been on the waitlist for two years or more.
Of the 9000 people wanting to renew their licenses, more than a third of them have been waiting for at least six months.
For some, like Purchas' dad, their licenses have expired while they wait, meaning he's no longer allowed to store his firearms.
"We've had to move the firearms from our house to another location which has just been difficult and if he didn't move it he's technically criminal," Purchas said.
"It meant that you had to pack all your firearms to the boot of the car and go find someone else to look after them. When in actual fact you've done nothing wrong just police have not been able to get into administration," ACT MP Nicole McKee said.
But that's about to change with the Arms Act Amendment Bill.
The Government will stop licenses from expiring until the police can get to them and it comes ahead of an anticipated 40,000 applications thanks to a sudden glut that exists because of the 1992 shift from lifetime to 10-yearly licenses.
"This law change will allow us to smooth that out and it will mean police can manage the potential surge in license applications without people finding themselves unlawfully holding firearms through no fault of their own," Police Minister Chris Hipkins said.
McKee said it's a result of relentless pressure from ACT and she's taking this as a win.
"It's been two years and three police ministers we've gone through trying to get change," she said.
And that change is on its way quickly with the Bill's first reading on Tuesday.
