Yesterday’s arrest of an Auckland syndicate mass-printing 3D firearms raises significant concern about illegal firearm imports, warns the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO).

While criminals can 3D print 90% of a black-market firearm, there are still metal parts – like springs, slides and receivers – which criminals must obtain from other means.

To check if the firearm parts entered the country legally, Police can cross-reference the serial numbers of the 23 pistol receivers seized in the raid against firearms import permits.

COLFO Spokesperson Hugh Devereux-Mack says even with the million-dollar registry and firearm import records, it’s unlikely Police will be able to trace the origin of the parts.

“The core components needed for these ‘ghost guns’ are most likely being shipped into the country illegally, because that’s what criminals want.

“Criminals value 3D printed firearms because they are untraceable, hence the name ‘ghost guns’.

“If these illegal manufacturers were using parts that were stolen from a licensed owner or legally imported, they’d effectively be hiding an Air Tag in their client’s supposedly invisible gun. That would probably not be good for business.”

Police have records of all legal pistols and pistol parts in the country, dating back to the beginning of New Zealand’s pistol register in 1930. They also have records of all firearm imports, including firearm parts, since 2008.

Every time a firearms dealer wants to import a firearm or part, they must fill out an import permit to provide details of the firearm, including make, model, and serial number, then file it with Police within 30 days of the firearm arriving in the country.

“If the firearm parts were legally imported, Police will have a record of that,” says Devereux-Mack.

Devereux-Mack says the seizure vindicates the renewed Police focus on criminal firearms, rather than legal owners.

“For too long the answer to firearms crime was, ‘let’s crack down on the law-abiding people’.”

“With firearms ownership more regulated than ever, and gun crime still on the rise, all governments should now realise that was not the right answer.

“We hope that the proposed Arms Act rewrite acknowledges this and looks to improve New Zealand’s firearms law so it is practical and effective.”

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