KEY POINTS:
As police try to track up to 120 high-powered, military style weapons which vanished from a Coromandel property, they are reluctantly preparing to give back 200 similar firearms and 600,000 rounds of ammunition to their owner.
This is amid increasing concerns among Waikato police about the number of
illegal weapons on the black market, known to be falling into the hands of criminals and gangsters.
Police seized about 230 military-style weapons from Hamilton firearms dealer and collector Dale Jenner last December after it was found he had twice illegally sold unregistered, restricted weapons.
The seizure included 600,000 rounds of ammunition.
But about 200 of Jenner's guns, and his ammunition, could be back in the hands of a military enthusiast within the next 10 days.
Inquiry team head Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead said yesterday that under the law, he could not prevent the redistribution of the majority of Jenner's collection.
The law did not allow him to destroy them, he said.
Because Jenner has had his gun licence revoked, he can no longer hold, own, or pull the trigger on any form of firearm, but he can still benefit from the proceeds of his collection.
Jenner, who has pleaded guilty to illegally selling two military style firearms, can nominate anyone of his choice to take possession of his collection, as long as that person has the necessary firearms licence.
If this is not done, his collection can become the property of the Crown, and the Minister of Finance will compensate Jenner for his guns.
Jenner was part of a larger firearms bust, dubbed Operation Daisy, in which more than 800 weapons were seized last December. Police said about 20 per cent of the weapons were restricted guns with an unregistered (illegal) status.
Auckland film set supplier and gun collector Martin Bath was one of the targets of the seizure, and his collection is still held by police although Mr Bath is yet to be charged with any offence.
Gun control advocate Philip Alpers said he had no problem with Jenner's ability to sell his weapons, and police had no right to destroy his property without compensating him.
"That sort of property legislation is rare in New Zealand and is really reserved only for the proceeds of organised crime or the taxman."
He also had little problem with the firearms being sold back to collectors, "because the obligation is then on them to keep [the firearms] and have them registered".
The onus was on police to determine the "fit and proper" status of the person who ended up buying the weapons.
"But then again Jenner and Mabey [John Mabey, the Coromandel man who allegedly made a false burglary complaint to police when about 120 of his weapons went missing] were deemed fit and proper people."
Jenner could choose to sell to someone who he knew would give him continued access to the guns, but the onus of proof remained with police, Mr Alpers said.
He questioned why so much concern was being expressed by police when the law said all collectors holding military style weapons had to render their guns inoperable.
"It's not so much the weapons, it's the fireability of those weapons that concerns me.
"If people abided by the law there would be less of a problem, they'd be inoperable at the time of theft."
Police were obliged to regularly check collectors' armouries to ensure compliance, Mr Alpers said.
On the other hand, prosecutions for police were sometimes difficult.
Gun enthusiasts used legal loopholes such as alterations to avoid restricted-weapon status. This meant no requirement to register the weapon.
Trigger happy
* New Zealanders are thought to own about 1.1 million guns.
* There are about 223,000 licensed firearm owners, and about 3000 are classed as firearm collectors.
* Only 4 per cent of weapons must be registered with police.
* These are deemed restricted firearms which require a collector's licence.
* Restricted firearms include military style, semi-automatic weapons, machineguns, mortars and rocket launchers.
* The number of unregistered restricted weapons is unknown, but on the black market they fetch up to 400 per cent above their retail value.