Thousands of guns handed in
About 2000 illegal guns have been volunteered to police in the past three weeks.
The Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines and Parts) Amendment Act took effect on Friday, just 26 days after the attacks on Christchurch mosques in which 50 people were killed.
The new law bans all semiautomatic and military-style weapons, such as those used in the Christchurch massacre, and is intended to get weapons out of circulation quickly.
People who had firearms breaching the old law and those whose firearms are prohibited by the new law have until September 30 to hand in the weapons to avoid prosecution.
They can either hand in the firearm to the local police firearms officer or fill in an online form arranging for the police to collect the gun.
In the period from March 21, when the Government signalled its intention to toughen gun laws, to Monday morning, 346 firearms had been handed to police and 1579 online notification forms had been completed, a police spokeswoman said.
The process for compensation for prohibited guns delivered to police is under consideration.
Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement said people seemed to want to do the right thing and so far the response was pleasing.
Police did not want gun owners queuing at police stations to deliver illegal arms for obvious reasons and would soon have a process in place combining compensation with collection of the firearms, he said. Online notifications provided a useful point of contact.
Cabinet is expected to consider another batch of firearms legislation in early May, with plans to pass a law by the end of the year.
Police are providing advice to officials on a gun register, something they regard as having merit.
Clement has warned owners of prohibited firearms to keep their guns safe and secure until handed in and not to use them.
About 250,000 Kiwis have a firearms licence. Police have no firm idea of how many firearms are caught by the new gun law.
Prohibited firearms held under an E-Category licence are believed to number around 13,500. No record of the number of A-Category licence firearms exists and police estimate there could be tens of thousands in New Zealand.