Police are warning gun owners to review their home security following the theft of 15 weapons and a large amount of ammunition from an Auckland gun collector.
The cache of guns and 5,000 rounds of shot gun ammunition were taken from a Bucklands Beach property between 9am and 5pm yesterday.
The burglary comes on the eve of Operation Unification, an Australasian wide two-week campaign aimed at encouraging the public to report firearms in the possession of unlicensed holders.
Assistant Police Commissioner Malcolm Burgess said Operation Unification will remove illicit firearms from the hands of New Zealand criminals for the safety of everyone in the community.
"Fortunately, the vast majority of New Zealanders never feel the threat of illegal firearms in their neighbourhood," Mr Burgess said.
"But there is a small sub-culture of people who think it's fine for them to hold guns without a licence or appropriate security measures.