KEY POINTS:
Hamilton gun dealer Martin Bath might have to wait a long time before getting hundreds of his weapons back after police confiscated them.
Mr Bath provides guns to Hollywood movie sets and he said he would go bankrupt unless police returned his arsenal of 700 weapons seized as
part of a nationwide arms seizure in December.
Mr Bath said he had done nothing wrong and already lost out on a lucrative deal to provide weapons to Sylvester Stallone's Rambo 4 production.
He planned legal action to stop police destroying his $1 million gun collection and get them back.
Mr Bath was not arrested but spent 10 hours being questioned about the guns in his arsenal.
His licence was suspended and police confiscated the guns, most of which fired blanks.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead said police had taken more than 1000 weapons during Operation Daisy, including guns, rocket launchers, home-made landmines and live hand grenades.
Mr Whitehead said each of the firearms had to undergo a detailed examination by a qualified armourer, a time consuming-process that was ongoing.
He said police were undertaking inquiries to determine whether firearms had been illegally imported or had their description misrepresented to place them in a category that defeats the traceability provisions of the Arms Act.
"Establishing the source of these firearms requires international inquiries that introduce factors beyond the control of the New Zealand police."
The fact that Mr Bath had chosen to put his concerns into the public domain did not alter the constraints the police operated under regarding the release of information from the inquiry, he added.
"We must be mindful of Mr Bath's rights to privacy and his rights to a fair trial should charges be laid.
"Should Mr Bath make an application to the District Court pursuant to Section 65 of the Arms Act as he has indicated, the police will address that in the appropriate forum."
Mr Bath's lawyer Nicholas Taylor said police had intercepted phone conversations with his client, culminating in a 19-hour search of his family home just before Christmas.
He said it was frustrating that nothing seemed to be happening. There had been no sign that Mr Bath would be charged and police had refused to communicate with him.
However, Mr Whitehead said police had been in regular correspondence with Mr Bath's lawyer and had responded to all inquiries made by him.
- NZPA
