paperwork in 5 months ago,one month before current licence was due for renewal as had done many

 times previously with no issuses,one month later had our interviews was told then to expect 90 day

 delay before got new licence,ok longer than been before,but tho thought delay was bit long,could live

 with it,after 100 days contacted firearms licencing office in wellington,was told been approved but would 

 take another 4/6 weeks due to them being backlogged,now 7 weeks since then,still no new licence.

 Other than being told couldnt buy guns or ammo coz my lic now invalid was told they had no probs me

 still holding my firearms n pcp airguns,have quiried me holding my guns twice since n told was ok as 

 my new licence been approved and in process being issused,but here i am still in limbo without a valid

 licence 5 months later,still holding n using my guns with police approval.

 Considering all police complaints bout illegal guns getting into wrong hands recently after a serries

 nasty incidents involving firearms i have to wonder how many others been put in same position as 

 myself just give up and sell their guns illegally just to get rid them eh!!Iknow from past experience

 of people have known who didnt renew licences that police never checked up to see if any guns they

 once legally owned had been diposed of legally,my therory is that many of the illegal guns out there

 are really out there coz police didnt follow up on expired licences eh!!!!!!! i tend to think this mat be

 the real truth of that matter,my qeustion is this,How do gun laws work as intened if the body whos job

 it is to enforce these laws dont doso but instead demand tougher laws that only affect the law abiding

 gun owners like myself and idiots n crims who ignore the first place will allso ignore any new laws as

 well,when police dont enforce the laws we allready have,My point therefore is if our police dont

 seem to be able to comply with the laws we do have and dont enforce these laws,how exactly are

 the laws going to work,fact is like drug n road laws they dont work eh!!

 I been a legal licenced gun owner for 50 years,i my very best to comply with the law and have never

 knowingly or deliberatly broken these laws and am now left in a position i dont want or like being in

 not by my own choice either quite simply it appears to me another party isnt or cant do their job 

 properly for whatever reasons.

 I totally resent being put in a position where i am in what really is the position of being illegally in 

 posscession of firearms n pcp airguns thru no fault my own,as facts are police can legally force me

 to hand over what is my legall property to them now without anything i can do to prevent that 

 happening should they so choose to doso.

 To be honest i totally pissed off with whole situation as truth is i dont currently possess a firearms

 licence am in possecession of firearms and dispite the apparent approval of police that in law has no

 legal standing,none of which is of my doing.

 

 Under the law i am now a criminal having illegal possecession of firearms for which i currently hold a 

 licence to possess a situation i didnt ask to or want to be in thats not of my making either.

 My point is how am i supposed stay within the law when those whos job it is the help me stay within

 the law are making it impossible for me to doso.

 Cheers Mike

 lost my patience,after calling licencing office twice in last few months and bassically getting blown off.

 Monday this week called my district AO whos known me for lot years both personally and 

 professionaly to ask him to see what the delay was,he was gob smacked i hadnt received my new 

 licence as he had recommened me allso,

 Two hours later i got a call from officer in charge the licencing office telling me they had just personally

 processed my application,approved it and my new licence would be in next batch printed and i could expect it in couple weeks,they allso apologised for what they said eas an unacceptable delay in 

 processing it,they allso told me reason behind the delay,dispite my partner having no issuses,one my 

 refrees being a recently retired local AO whos been long time friend,the ditrict AO recommending me,

 the local police having no issuses,the licencing office had allso interviewed my nasty nieghbour

 following up on a series of malicious and false allegations and complaints he had made against me

 in previous 10 months,all of which had been investaged by my local police and proven to be false

 the licencing office took more notice of what this man said than the real facts of the matter,go 

 figure that on eh!!

 This leaves me wondering how long this wouldve continued or if my licence renewal may have been 

 evan refused and my licence revoked if the district AO had not intervened on my behalf eh!!

 While i fully understand and appeciate how and why our licencing system has checks n balances etc

 to try ensure guns dont as far as possible get into the wrong hands and have no real issuses with

 our licencing system,i do feel in my situation having done nothig wrong or illegal that i got the heavy

 end of the system rather unfairly and with no real justification.

 I would been devastated if my licence had been revoked as i believe it came very close to being 

 particularlly in light the circumstances.

 Fortunatly in the end sanity prevailed thanks to my district AO standing up for me.

 Cheers Mike 

 some nut case had it in for me,just goes to show if you have gun licence,you could lose it for no valid

 reason and having done nothing illegal either.I learnt that lesson thats for sure.

 Cheers Mike