When police raided several Auckland homes in April, they found four 3D printers that were being used to manufacture guns – two of which were in operation when police went in.

A month later, in an unrelated search in the Bay of Plenty, police found a 3D printer, filaments and firearm parts, including 3D-printed stocks, barrels, receivers, pistol grips and magazines.

There were also pins, springs and a shopping list for parts that included triggers in Karl Hutton’s Te Puke home.

That find came after police discovered messaging between Hutton and an associate that suggested the manufacturing of firearms.

In the same room were live .22-calibre ammunition rounds and shotgun rounds.

A police summary of facts revealed the most common calibre of 3D-printed firearms is .22.

When spoken to by police, the 43-year-old told them he manufactured “replica firearms” and didn’t want police looking at his phone “for personal reasons”.

Hutton pleaded guilty to charges that included attempted manufacture of firearms, as police didn’t find a complete manufactured firearm.

He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by Judge Thomas Ingram in the Tauranga District Court.

Judge Ingram said 3D printing of firearms “fills me with great concern for our society”, noting that, in his experience, there had been an “explosion” in the amount of firearm offending he was dealing with in his courts, especially in the Bay of Plenty and Hamilton.

The growth of 3D-printed firearms

In 2022, only two 3D-printed firearms were seized. Fast-forward three years to 2025 and the count, as of December, was 87.

The guns are part of 6760 firearms seized in 2025 and are indicative of the “evolving landscape of firearms in New Zealand”.

Detective Senior Sergeant Lisa Anderson, of the National Organised Crime Group, says it’s an area police are particularly concerned with.

The equipment needed is almost as straightforward as it sounds – a 3D printer. Blueprints can be downloaded.

“Obviously, you need the material to use it, to create it, but it is essentially that simple,” Anderson said.

She said 3D firearms were being printed in people’s houses and garages, and there was a “definite increase” in what police were seeing and seizing.

Police shut down a 3D firearms printing operation in April.

In April, five people were arrested after police busted the Auckland syndicate attempting to illegally manufacture 3D-printed firearms.

Five search warrants were conducted across central and West Auckland and police found a “significant amount” of illegally manufactured firearm parts and firearms.

At the time, Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong said police recovered four 3D printers, with two in operation when staff entered the properties.

Four men – aged 35, 40, 41 and 54 – and a 29-year-old woman appeared in the Auckland District Court, jointly charged with participating in an organised criminal group and conspiring to manufacture firearms using illegal parts produced by a 3D printer.

Armstrong said police continued to target the source of firearms getting into the hands of criminal groups.

“This is work being carried out on multiple fronts, which includes our Firearms Investigation Teams and the work of the Firearms Safety Authority.”

What the Firearms Investigation Team does

Detective Senior Sergeant Anderson works in the National Organised Crime Group (NOCG), where she oversees the Firearms Investigation Team, and she communicates across agencies, including Customs.

She helps link intelligence from external agencies to police investigations.

One of the early focuses of the Firearms Investigation Team, when it was first established a few years back, was straw-buying.

Straw-buying is when a gun licence holder purchases firearms legally but on-sells or supplies them to those without a licence.

Anderson said while this might sometimes be more a case of thoughtlessness than criminal intent, it was important that licence holders understood the rules.

“There’s a lot of information out there around securing firearms, not supplying firearms and [the fact that] it’s an offence,” she said.

“And that’s what we are really trying hard to crack down on, to prevent firearms getting into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.”

One of the tools that has been particularly helpful in tracking down how firearms have ended up in unexpected hands and houses is the Firearms Registry, established in 2023.

An overview of the numbers and a lesson on guns

In 2025, 6760 firearms were seized throughout New Zealand.

This was an increase of more than 600 firearms, with 6153 seized in 2024.

In 2023, 5926 were seized, up from 5839 in 2022.

The term “firearm” refers to anything from which a shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged by the force of an explosive, and includes things that have been adapted for this purpose or could be made functional by completion or repair.

Notable increases were in the number of pistols and prohibited firearms seized. There were 592 pistols seized in 2025, up on 353 seized in 2024.

There were 120 prohibited firearms seized in 2025, compared with 57 in 2024.

Ministry of Justice statistics show there were 1557 convictions for Arms Act offences in 2024-25 related to firearms, and of those, 33% were dealt with by prison sentences.

Arms Act offences include selling or supplying firearms to unlicensed persons, having firearms without a licence, and the careless use of firearms.

There were also 5140 charges laid for firearm-related offending that included burglary, assault, homicide, and harming or endangering others where there was a firearm at play.

Of those, 3047 resulted in convictions.

Anderson said the establishment of the Firearms Register meant charges could be laid for not following or abiding by the registry, and that “opens up” the number of offences that can be committed.

The Firearms Register allows for “accountability and knowledge of where firearms are and where they should be”.

It’s useful when firearms are detected in other illegal activity because police could track who they are registered to.

In North Canterbury in November, 31 firearms were seized and six firearms licence holders had their licences suspended after a police investigation into illegal hunting.

NOCG Detective Inspector Albie Alexander said the operation began after concerns about illegal hunting and public safety when shots were fired near a house in rural Cheviot in April, waking the occupants.

“Two men, who did not hold firearms licences, pleaded guilty to charges, including unlawful possession of firearms and discharging a firearm near a dwelling after the April incident.

“Of the six firearms located in their possession, four were registered to other people. Thanks to the Firearms Registry, we were able to trace the licence holders who allegedly diverted their firearms.”

He said four men and two women faced a variety of charges, including attempting to defeat the course of justice, intentionally failing to register firearms, knowingly providing false or misleading information to the police for the registry, and supplying a firearm to an unlicensed person.

Thirty-one firearms were seized and six licence holders had their licences suspended after a police investigation into illegal hunting in North Canterbury. Photo / NZ Police

When it came to illegal hunting, Anderson said police were often tipped off about someone hunting on land where they shouldn’t be and poaching.

“Once those inquiries are made and it is revealed that the person that was unlawfully hunting doesn’t have a firearm licence”, it could lead to a “domino effect” in an investigation.

Police were also finding guns as they went about their usual business.

“ ... During police operations, search warrants, searches of vehicles, searches of people; generally, police attendance of incidents,” Anderson said.

She believes they are “moving in the right direction” in terms of investigation.

Operation Black Onyx and a week-long crackdown

In 2025, targeted police operations specifically looked for firearms, including the notable Operation Black Onyx.

In conjunction with Australian police, New Zealand carried out a week-long crackdown on guns, involving 83 search warrants executed nationwide.

At the end of the week, 43 arrests had been made and 96 firearms seized.

Anderson said the operation focused on the enforcement and disruption of offending involving illicit firearms.

“I think of note was that 96 firearms were seized ... So, that’s 96 firearms that shouldn’t have been on the street.”

She said the operation was set for a specific week, so police were able to measure the results and reflect on what was achieved.

“ ... it is horrifying to think that in such a short period of time that those are the ones that we were able to locate.”

Anderson said police acted with urgency when they received information that someone might be unlawfully possessing a firearm. She acknowledged the “balancing act” in terms of planning and preparation.

“We do act with urgency ... to prevent further offending, whether that’s through the firearms investigation team or whether that’s through area or districts, or front line. Police understand the importance of preventing firearm offending because of the potential for catastrophic results if we don’t.”

Another aspect of Anderson’s role is liaising with Customs to get a clear picture of the number of guns coming into the country.

But this isn’t only about identifying illegal, smuggled guns, it’s also about record-keeping of legal imports, “so that we just get that understanding of firearms that are coming into our country”, she said.

However, the challenge could be identifying firearms parts.

“Not all firearms parts raise red flags when they come in because springs, for example, and a spring on its own, or a box of springs, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be used for a firearm, but equally so it can be.”

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail, and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.