As you would expect for a man who had strong views on and experience with firearms, Chaz Forsyth was a straight-shooter.
The former teacher, who died in January from bowel cancer having been diagnosed the previous June — Bowel Cancer Awareness month — has been remembered as a scholar, outdoors man, gentleman and teacher who loved breaking things down to their constituent parts.
He was born in 1948 to British expatriates Ian and Julia in North Otago. Chaz’s sister, Janet, was born in 1950, while his brothers Sam, Joe and Alan were born in 1958, 1960 and 1961.
He was educated at Wyllies Crossing School in Taieri and then Taieri High School before studying at the Central Institute of Technology. He worked several different civil engineering roles at the Ministry of Works, before the public service restructures in the 1980s led him to accepting a redundancy and taking a teaching course — he was a workshop teacher at Balmacewen Intermediate for 20 years.
A quirk in the teaching legislation required him to go back to university in 2003 to resume academic studies in teaching in order to get re-qualified.
But Chaz Forsyth loved the experience of university so much that after his retirement, he went back to study at the University of Otago full-time.
He completed qualifications in teaching, economics, physical geography, firearms, ammunition handling and range consultancy, and gained a PhD in human geography — his doctorate thesis was on firearms in the New Zealand community — in 2023.
Chaz Forsyth also served on the executive branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) for several years. He was made a life member of the NZDA, and to the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (COLFO).
Former NZDA president Bill O'Leary, who knew Chaz Forsyth for more than 40 years, remembered his good nature and "brilliant mind".
"Chaz had a particular strength in research, and his analysis of firearm incidents became very, very useful over the years.
"He also had a particular interest in range design, partly because his original trade, I think, was as a draftsman, so drawing plans and that sort of thing was bread and butter for him. He was a great collector of information.
"One of the things that we found absolutely amazing about the guy was that having in effect retired from lots and lots of things, he continued with his studies at university and combined his two passions — one is the analysis of firearm incidents and firearm safety, the other is the fact that he loved researching."
Although Chaz Forsyth didn't start hunting until 18, firearms safety for him began as a school cadet.
A keen mountaineer (that’s where the goats were), he was a member of the Dunedin Mountain Safety Council Branch and in 1991 was approved by police and appointed a firearms safety instructor to deliver firearms safety training to new firearms licence applicants.
He was in his element in this environment, New Zealand Mountain Safety Council national firearms programme manager Mike Spray recalls.
"The role of firearm instructor was as a volunteer, and it is humbling to think Chaz spent many hours away from his home and family to pass on his knowledge of firearms and firearms safety to others.
"Chaz would arrive at the Dunedin police station in the evening and over many years instruct hundreds of new licence applicants to be responsible, lawful and safe with firearms."
His daughter, Bridget Forsyth, remembered her father’s many hours of advocacy.
"Growing up with our dad, he was always incredibly busy, meetings every night, on the phone for hours much to my annoyance as a teenager. Poor Mum had to play the go-between when one of us wanted the phone and the other was on it. When I was young, he'd be typing away on his typewriter. Later it was a Commodore 64. Gradually he'd upgrade his technology, although the older he got, the less readily he figured out how to use said technology.
Bridget Forsyth said he had respect and time for people across the political spectrum as they all touched on the different aspects he was passionate about.
Green Party MP Scott Willis said he first met Chaz at the Leith Valley Rifle Range, where he had gone to sight in a new rifle.
"Chaz was a real character, very generous, open and interested, and keen to impart good practice and his thoughts on different calibres and regulations around firearms. I later came to learn Chaz was passionate about good gun law.
"Outside of talking to Chaz at the Leith Valley Rifle Range, I sometimes bumped into him around town and what always impressed me was his innate curiosity about everything around him and his active engagement in local issues and deep knowledge of firearm legislation, firearm safety and the NZ Deer Stalkers Association."
Mr Willis’ last memory of Chaz Forsyth was of the man loading him up with mountains of paperwork about firearms law in preparation for the Arms (Shooting Clubs, Shooting Ranges and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
"Chaz was a lovely person, not a nasty bone in his body and always bright and sparking, even when dealing with terrible health news. He’s been referred to as a true gentleman and he truly was."
In a 2014 Otago Daily Times article, Chaz Forsyth described himself as "passionate about the topic of firearms" — but conceded there was an "image problem" with the firearm-owning community.
He kept an eagle eye on changing gun laws — he was particularly critical about recent firearms reform.
In 2022, he told the ODT changes were targeting the wrong people, as teaching firearm safety was the major role of clubs.
"There has been no evidence of safety issues reported on civilian ranges in New Zealand ... To close down clubs and shooting ranges because they think that will help is like banning driver training to save lives on the roads," he said.
As recently as last year, he wrote a column about firearm laws for the ODT, where he said the focus of firearm control laws upon people licensed for firearms — "when almost all offenders with firearms are not licensed, so their firearms are not lawfully held — suggests misdirected lawmaking".
But it wasn't his only topic of interest — he made hundreds of submissions to councils and parliamentary committees, and made frequent contributions to the ODT’s letters page on topics ranging from the environment to education.
He took a particular interest in the state of the health system; his last letter to this newspaper was an analysis on the new Dunedin hospital project, and why it stacked up financially and socially as a necessary project ahead of others.
Bridget Forsyth said her father loved learning and striving for things to be better.
"He also had his quirks. For instance, when a friend put him on to the fact that calendars could be reused, he was thrilled.
"He would dutifully keep calendars just so he could look up each year, which past ones would work and give them out to folk. For this year you can re-use calendars from 1975, 1986, 1997, 2003 and 2014. Indeed, we have a Whitcoulls 1986 calendar up in mum’s bedroom this year which I have to admit also amuses me."
She described Chaz’s last days in hospice as a surprisingly reflective time, full of gratitude for all his friends, family and the medical professionals he dealt with.
"Once he was in hospital, then hospice, with pain managed, or slight discomfort as he described it ... He thoroughly enjoyed himself laying in bed as a parade of loved ones — friends and family — came through to visit.
"His only concern in those final days was that people were feeling sad about him dying. I told him he should have been more of a bastard then. That made him laugh."
He is survived by his wife, Jacquie, daughter, Bridget, son, Ben, his sister and three brothers. — Matthew Littlewood
