Firearms stolen from Dunedin property

Police have said 28 firearms have been stolen from a property in Dunedin on Tuesday (file)
Police have said 28 firearms have been stolen from a property in Dunedin on Tuesday (file)

Police have confirmed that 28 weapons have been stolen from a private property on Maitland Street in Dunedin on Tuesday.

The weapons included military-style semi-automatic firearms and a significant amount of ammunition.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis said it is vital the weapons are quickly recovered.

"It is extremely important to recover any firearm that is in the wrong hands and Police are investigating this crime as a matter of priority," he says.

"As is often the case, members of the public are key to solving crimes such as this, so we encourage members of the public to report any suspicious behaviour."

Firearms expert Professor Alexander Gillespie says the weapons are some of the most highly restricted weapons in New Zealand.

"You require a different category of licence to be able to obtain them," he says.

"The vetting system is actually quite good. The problem is that criminals work out where these valuable firearms, especially the pistols and military-style weapons, are stored.

"And they target these places."

Mr Gillespie says the stolen guns could be traced but once on the black market they are near impossible to find.

"You can trace them, the difficulty is that they get into the illegal community or the gangs and they just disappear from circulation."

Despite the guns potentially getting into the wrong hands he says the guns are commonly used as collateral.

"The culture of the criminals is changing, it's possible these weapons were stolen to order," he says.

"It's most likely they've gone to organised criminals and more often than not they're used for collateral or wanted for a particular job.

"We work on the assumption that criminals will only shoot other criminals but increasingly what you see is a lot more collateral damage and they eventually they get traded - they're a commodity."

However guns in the wrong hands is what the public should be concerned about Mr Gillespie says.

"The risk here is the completely wrong person gets hold of them and does something terrible," he says.

"You've got a whole series of questions over whether these kinds of firearms should be in the community."

Police would like to hear from anyone who has information that may be relevant to their investigation.

That information could relate to vehicle sightings, or persons acting to hide, trade or sell these weapons.

Police urge members of the public to come forward if they have any information or contact 111.

Newshub.