Police results confirm where firearm harm comes from
First published: 31 October 2026
The Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) welcomes NZ Police's results from Operation Athena, the joint operation with Australian agencies that ran from 19 to 25 October. Police executed 31 search warrants, made 39 arrests and laid 159 charges. They seized 67 illicit firearms, 88 firearm parts and 1,489 3D-printed parts.
The cases Police describe involve stolen, hidden and 3D-printed firearms held by people operating outside the licensing system. That is where enforcement effort belongs, and COLFO supports it.
The operation is a useful contrast with earlier regulator proposals, including a five-gun cap and a buy-back. Those ideas would have targeted licensed, vetted owners while doing nothing about the criminal supply Police are now dismantling.
Hugh Devereux-Mack, Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO)
ENDS
About COLFO
The New Zealand Council of Licensed Firearms Owners Inc. (COLFO) is the national umbrella body for licensed firearm owners in New Zealand. It represents more than 13 member organisations across hunting, rifle shooting, clay target shooting and airsoft, and has been an incorporated society since 1996.
Media contact
Hugh Devereux-Mack
New Zealand Council of Licensed Firearms Owners
Email: hugh@colfo.org.nz
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