A licensed gun owner has been charged after a rifle and shotgun they were supposed to be in possession of were allegedly found in the hands of a Mongrel Mob prospect.
Police said the guns were not reported stolen.
The charges come after police executed a search of a Kapiti Coast address last month.
During the search, officers found a .22 rifle, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, two .22 magazines, more than 400 rounds of .22 ammunition, 25 shotgun slugs, and buckshot shotgun ammunition. They also found two rifle silencers and a “significant amount” of cannabis.
A check on the serial numbers with the Firearms Registry revealed the firearms belonged to a licensed holder who should have been in possession of them, police said.
Police said the firearms hadn’t been reported stolen, and the licensed holder was served with a firearms licence suspension. This is the first step towards a licence being revoked.
The firearms were seized, and the original owner now faces charges related to the unlawful supply of firearms.
Police said the connections found in the original seized firearms led to further searches, and other alleged diverters were linked through the firearms records now available to police from the Firearms Registry.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Sears praised the registry’s ability to help police build a “robust intelligence picture” and follow information from it.
“While the Registry is not yet fully populated, it is already changing the game for us,” Sears said.
“Without the Registry records linking the seized firearms to the suspect licence holders, the flow-on activity arguably would not have occurred.”
Angela Brazier, executive director of the Te Tari Pureke – Firearms Safety Authority, said the Firearms Registry was disrupting the sale of black-market guns.
“Police are now chasing down where registered firearms are supposed to be and asking why firearms registered to a licence holder are not in their possession.
“The Registry is the critical connection point to all of this and is closing a gap we’ve had in the system.”
