Hi Michael,
I moved here over a year ago from the UK where I had a firearms license. To bring my firearms here took the following process:
Get PR (you can’t get a New Zealand firearms license on a visitors visa)
Apply for a New Zealand firearms license (applied Sept 5, got the license about 8 weeks later)
Apply for an import license from the New Zealand Police – same day
Apply for an export license from the DTI – 2 months
Got firearms.
Applying for a New Zealand firearms license:
Submit application form (including a New Zealand reference who has known you for 12 months)
A vetting officer arranges to come and interview you and your partner, plus inspect your security arrangements at home – they will interview you separately and will want to know where you will be shooting (so join a club or two beforehand).
If he/she approves, they will put you forward for a written test conducted by the Mountain Safety Council at the local cop shop.
You need to (I think I recall) get 38 out of 40 correct including all the basic safety questions. The test is conducted after about an hours lecture – if you read through the firearms booklet it’s mostly common sense.
If you pass, you’ll get the license in the post 2-4 weeks later.
That was the process for owning bolt action sporting rifles, semi-auto rifles and shotguns.
There are separate categories for antique firearms, pistols and military style automatics.
To bring my rifles over from the UK I used a specialist firm to a) store them whilst the above was happening and b) to arrange the UK DTI export license as well as the transportation to Christchurch of the rifles and ammunition.
You can bring a firearm over on a visitors visa - but not if you’re in the process of applying for PR.
Getting the import license is easy if the firearms in question are listed on the police approved firearms list, which I think you can download from their website. If they do not appear on this list there is a process to go through to gain import approval.
An important point to make is to ensure you have valuations of the firearms (e.g. copies of purchase invoices) and to declare them to customs when they arrive as part of your import of personal belongings – this to ensure you don’t get charged GST on their value and the cost of shipping them here.
If hunting is your thing, it’s good to join the New Zealand Deer Association a) for their liability insurance and b) to make contacts. Also good to apply for a Department of Conservation hunting permit (free) to gain access to the public hunting blocks around the country.
Hope that helps – happy to help further if required.