Prime Minister John Key says he would write a glowing reference for a protection officer who left a loaded gun in a Parliamentary toilet.
"If the police wanted that, yes. I have the utmost confidence in the guy, he has just made a terrible error," Mr Key told reporters this afternoon.
"In his field of work that is something he has with him - a gun. But ministers could leave Cabinet papers on a plane and I wouldn't be happy, but I would understand that."
Mr Key said he did not want to interfere with the inquiry, but the protection officer had been assigned to him since he became Prime Minister, and he trusted him completely.
"He is utterly professional, I trust him implicitly, and he has just made an awful error. Unfortunately sometimes these things happen.