Hundreds of firearms owners' details exposed after documents stolen from old Auckland police station

An Auckland City police superintendent has warned that hundreds of firearms licence holders have been affected after documents containing personal details of firearms owners were allegedly stolen from the disused Auckland City police station.

Superintendent Karyn Malthus, Auckland District Commander, told AM that collectively, those firearms owners could own hundreds, if not thousands, of guns.

Malthus said the stolen documents were dumped into a destruction bin which the alleged offender was somehow able to access.

"It should not have been that easy for a burglar to take those papers, so there have been errors in the handling of that destruction bin without doubt and I am looking into that to understand what happened so that we can make sure that doesn't happen again," she said.

The stolen documents relate to firearms owners in the Auckland city centre area who renewed or got a new licence between 2015 and 2017.

Malthus believed the burglary occurred in early May but police didn't learn of it until later that month, on May 25.

Officers became aware of the break-in while executing a search warrant in Mt Albert in May where they found police property, including documents and expired pepper spray.

Malthus said four people have been charged to date with burglary and offences related to receiving stolen property.

Affected firearms owners are now being contacted by police and told their details were on the pilfered papers.

On firearm owners taking additional measures to secure their weapons, Malthus said: "In general, we always advise firearms licence holders to remain vigilant around the security measures they have in place for their firearms."

Firearms owners were asked to contact police if they had any concerns.

A major criminal investigation continues to find out who may have come into contact with the private firearms documents.