The revelation that documents stolen from an abandoned Auckland police station contained the names and addresses of licensed firearm owners has outraged gun owners.

Said Chaz Forsyth, President of the Sporting Shooters Association, “The fact that these documents have lain in an empty police station for several years, shows great incompetence on the part of police, they have clearly been negligent in their protection of this important personal data. Someone needs to be held to account.”

"It would appear that the theft of these documents was discovered by chance when police executed a search warrant, so they clearly had no idea that the documents had been left behind or stolen. What does this say about their data security protocols?”

Will the new planned gun register be any more secure when it is designed by an Australian Firm currently under investigation by the commerce commission?

"One of the main objections of gun owners to the proposed firearm register is that the data may be stolen and used by criminals as a shopping list to source firearms from licensed owners. This incident reinforces that argument. The register should be abandoned as it serves no practical useful purpose.” Said Forsyth

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