When police raided several Auckland homes in April, they found four 3D printers that were being used to manufacture guns – two of which were in operation when police went in. A month later, in an unrelated search in the Bay of Plenty, police found a 3D printer, filaments and firearm parts, including 3D-printed stocks, barrels, receivers, pistol grips and magazines. There were also pins, springs and a shopping list for parts that included triggers in Karl Hutton’s Te Puke home. That find came after police discovered messaging between Hutton and an associate that suggested the manufacturing of firearms. In the same room were live .22-calibre ammunition rounds and shotgun rounds. A police summary of facts revealed the most common calibre of 3D-printed firearms is .22. When spoken to by police, the 43-year-old told them he manufactured “replica firearms” and didn’t want police looking at his phone “for personal reasons”. Hutton pleaded guilty to charges that included attempted manufacture of firearms, as police didn’t find a complete manufactured firearm. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by Judge Thomas Ingram in the Tauranga District Court. Judge Ingram said 3D printing of firearms “fills me with great concern for our society”, noting that, in his experience, there had been an “explosion” in the amount of firearm offending he was dealing with in his courts, especially in the Bay of Plenty and Hamilton. The growth of 3D-printed firearms In 2022, only two 3D-printed firearms were seized. Fast-forward three years to 2025 and the count, as of December, was 87. The guns are part of 6760 firearms seized in 2025 and are indicative of the “evolving landscape of firearms in New Zealand”. Detective Senior Sergeant Lisa Anderson, of the National Organised Crime Group, says it’s an area police are particularly concerned with. The equipment needed is almost as straightforward as it sounds – a 3D printer. Blueprints can be downloaded. “Obviously, you need the material to use it, to create it, but it is essentially that simple,” Anderson said. She said 3D firearms were being printed in people’s houses and garages, and there was a “definite increase” in what police were seeing and seizing. Police shut down a 3D firearms printing operation in April. In April, five people were arrested after police busted the Auckland syndicate attempting to illegally manufacture 3D-printed firearms. Five search warrants were conducted across central and West Auckland and police found a “significant amount” of illegally manufactured firearm parts and firearms. At the time, Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Armstrong said police recovered four 3D printers, with two in operation when staff entered the properties. Four men – aged 35, 40, 41 and 54 – and a 29-year-old woman appeared in the Auckland District Court, jointly charged with participating in an organised criminal group and conspiring to manufacture firearms using illegal parts produced by a 3D printer. Armstrong said police continued to target the source of firearms getting into the hands of criminal groups. “This is work being carried out on multiple fronts, which includes our Firearms Investigation Teams and the work of the Firearms Safety Authority.” What the Firearms Investigation Team does Detective Senior Sergeant Anderson works in the National Organised Crime Group (NOCG), where she oversees the Firearms Investigation Team, and she communicates across agencies, including Customs. She helps link intelligence from external agencies to police investigations. One of the early focuses of the Firearms Investigation Team, when it was first established a few years back, was straw-buying. Straw-buying is when a gun licence holder purchases firearms legally but on-sells or supplies them to those without a licence. Anderson said while this might sometimes be more a case of thoughtlessness than criminal intent, it was important that licence holders understood the rules. “There’s a lot of infor...