Population is at 4.8 million. Having been there last year, I can make a comment or two about this demographic situation and weapons.
The bulk of the population is centered around Auckland (1.7 million), Wellington (207,000) and Christchurch (375,000). Once you get 20 miles away from those ‘hubs’....the rest of the country is fairly rural or less dense populated. In the extreme north of the north isle, it’s all farms and ranches. For the southern half of the south isle, it’s very rural. In some areas, they will warn you that there isn’t any real civilization (gas stations) for twenty miles.
As for the rural nature and animal predators? Well, there are none. No snakes, no coyotas, nothing. You can go out into the most rural area of the south island, and there’s virtually nothing to harm you. Part of this story though, relates to the fact that the original settlers to the region....hunted with a passion, and if there was a threat....they hunted it down.
So you come to crime. I walked over a bit of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. With one single area of Auckland that I might describe as a no-go area (mostly because of druggies), it’s probably one of the safest places on the face of the earth. You could stumble around Christchurch at 1AM and other than bumping into a drunk or two, it’s fairly safe.
But I will add this...it’s a two-class society. There is the urbanite/Auckland social liberal class, and the ruralized/conservative class. If you can sell something to the Auckland population, then their vote carries the entire election, and ensures the leadership path for the country. Politicians and journalists may attempt to deny this, but it’s more than obvious if you visit the country for two weeks.