One of the prohibited semi-automatic firearms found by police in the possession of Joseph Grond. Photo / Supplied
The suspect didn’t look like an arms dealer.
He was a 22-year-old landscaper with a clean criminal record who had passed police vetting checks to get his firearms licence. Not just the standard ‘A’ category, but also the more strictly regulated licences needed to own pistols, military-style weapons, and collector items.
So when Joseph Grond’s name came up during an investigation into an Auckland motorcycle gang, as someone selling guns to criminals, detectives from the Waitemata organised crime squad had to take a closer look.
At the time of Grond’s arrest, firearms were a controversial topic in New Zealand.
The government had recently banned semi-automatic weapons following the Christchurch terrorist attack on 15th of March 2019, with more than 60,000 firearms surrendered in the $100 million “buyback” scheme.
Critics pointed out that criminals, however, were unlikely to hand back their illegal firearms and they were proven right when gang shootings escalated.
Such rapid changes in the policing - and political - world meant firearms moved near the top of the priority list and someone like Grond selling guns warranted attention.
On December 17, 2020, search warrants were executed at two properties linked to Grond where police officers found an armoury: more than 40 legal firearms, thousands of ammunition rounds, various gun parts, and large magazines.
Among the collection were two of his favourite military-style semi-automatic rifles, which Grond had decided to keep instead of handing over during the buyback amnesty.
To justify his defiant stance, Grond said he had spent far more for those particular guns than the government was willing to pay in compensation. It was like buying a car for $20,000 and being forced to sell for just $5000, he later told a probation officer.
Along with the two illegal firearms, police made a curious discovery - a large number of rifle barrels which had been sawn-off.
Even more incriminating were text message conversations in which Grond discussed firearms with two different buyers. Each were gang associates.
In one of the deals, Grond provided specific details about pricing for firearms, either individually or as a package, as well as ammunition.
For the other deal, Grond spoke of selling an “AK” - believed to be a reference to an AK-47 - for $14,000.
“Bro, you are going to have to trust me bro,” the buyer said. “If you have to go, just go bro and I’ll get money or your guns back.”
Grond was arrested and charged with the unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm, a prohibited magazine, and a restricted weapon, as well as illegally selling the two firearms.
The previously unreported case provides a rare insight into how firearms are ending up in the hands of criminals: “straw buyers”.
For many years, the police had believed that most firearms in criminal hands were stolen from legitimate gun owners. This point has frustrated some in the firearms community, who say there is little data to back up the claim and instead believed that organised crime groups smuggled guns from overseas.
But the police now say that a nationwide crackdown on illegal firearms has identified retail diversion or “straw buyers” - a tactic where licensed firearms owners sell guns to criminals - as a much bigger problem than previously thought.
Under the Arms Act, retailers such as Gun City must keep records of gun sales but gun owners wanting to sell their firearms to someone else in private sales do not.
The only legal obligation on sellers is to look at the prospective buyer’s firearms licence. There is no requirement to check whether the licence was valid, or even keep a record of the buyer’s details.
“It’s very, very simple. We’re seeing how easy it is for one individual with a firearms licence to create a great deal of mayhem,” said Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Beal.
The officer-in-charge of the recently established Firearms Investigation Team, Beal said the bulk of guns recovered by police can be traced back to a legitimate retail sale - rather than stolen or smuggled - then diverted to unlicensed individuals.
His team has also analysed four years’ worth of retail records (or 250,000 sales) to look for suspicious purchases, or patterns, and investigate further.
One investigation in the Hawkes Bay, Operation Carbine, identified an ex-gang member who paid licensed firearm holders to purchase 21 Alfa Carbine rifles. The guns are desirable in the criminal community because they can be easily cut down to pistols.
Some Alfa Carbines were then fed directly into a gang confrontation between the Killer Beez and the Tribesmen in Auckland.
“There’s a lot of rumours around where gangs get their guns from: Importing them in bulk by sea, manufacturing them, burglaries and so on,” said Beal.
“But the vast majority of what we’re seeing so far is retail diversion. The criminal element doesn’t need to look any further, importing etc, because diversion is such a simple option.”
However, the “straw buyer” pipeline will be squeezed when a national register comes into force soon.
From June, each individual firearm will need to be registered to a licence holder. The loophole which allowed the private sale of firearms without recording the details of the new owner will also be closed.
The project is being led by Superintendent Richard Wilson, who concedes that in the past the police have not fulfilled their obligations under the Arms Act as effectively as they should.
While the new law and regulatory changes will make diversion of firearms more difficult, Wilson expects organised crime to explore other avenues to find firepower.
That could lead to gun-smuggling by sea, or manufacture (either by 3D printers or assembly of imported parts), targeted burglaries of gun owners or “smash-and-grab” ram raids on dealers.
Wilson also raised the likelihood of “guns for hire”, literally, where licence holders retain physical possession of their firearms but rent them to criminals.
“The key for police is to make sure that we keep everyone’s details really secure, so the firearms community isn’t targeted,” says Wilson, referring to concerns the national register could fall into the wrong hands. “Because the pressure will come on.”
The stricter regulations and focus on the illegal supply of firearms will take time to bear fruit.
As well as the firepower already in the black market, there is also an unknown number of “grey market” firearms in NZ. These are firearms purchased by gun licence holders, which were then banned, but not handed over during the government buyback period.
No one knows how many “grey market” firearms exist but gun lobby groups estimated there could be hundreds of thousands, which could then enter the black market through the likes of Joseph Grond.
The most serious offence he committed was selling a prohibited firearm, the AK-47, which can lead to up to five years in prison.
In sentencing Grond at the North Shore District Court in September, Judge Clare Bennett noted that the maximum penalties available showed how seriously lawmakers viewed firearms offending.
“You must know now that that sort of behaviour can cause widespread and significant damage to the community.”
Grond’s life was in turmoil at the time of the offending as a long-term relationship had ended and his mother and brother had recently passed away. While this didn’t excuse criminal behaviour, Judge Bennett said the upheaval did explain his poor decision making.
While at pains to stress that Grond’s sentence was not to be seen as a precedent for similar cases, Judge Bennett gave discounts for his admission of guilt, youth, and previous good character. The end sentence was six months’ community detention and 250 hours of community work
“In my view, your circumstances are special,” said Judge Bennett. “I am also clear that you were a legitimate firearms collector rather than having the firearms for nefarious purposes. However, you moved into that shady area by offering those firearms for sale.”
Mike Beal and Richard Wilson urged anyone thinking of diverting firearms like Grond, either for money or a favour to a friend, to think about the unintended consequences.
While firearms are mostly used for genuine purposes in NZ, such as pest control or hunting to put food on the table, the police officers said society has changed dramatically in recent years.
Conflict between rival gangs had caused a great deal of harm to communities, but firearms were also a risk in family abuse, as well as mass shootings driven by racist or political ideology.
As previously reported by the Herald, the semi-automatic rifle used to murder Constable Matt Hunt in June 2020 was a diverted firearm.
“Our message is that people need to trust the system and there are reasons why the police decline a firearms licence which [anyone considering diversion] might not know about,” said Beal.
“Once someone diverts a firearm, they’ve got absolutely no idea where it’s going to end up. No one wants to have on their conscience the fact that a firearm they sold ended up contributing to a tragedy.”
Much of the South Island is set to plunge below 0C tonight and tomorrow.