Holders of firearms are being urged to check that their licences are still current as expired licences could lead to weapons being seized, thousands of dollars worth of fines, or even a term of imprisonment.
A team of five staff based at Central District Police HQ in Palmerston North manage the licensing process, working daily to track down owners of expired licences to interview them about the whereabouts of the weapons.
There's no place to hide as the team uses every research technique available to them to track down licence holders including Facebook, internet phone books, international phone directories, electoral rolls and drivers' licences. In some cases they have phoned everyone in the phonebook with the same surname until they have found the person they were looking for.
Their lateral thinking has helped them to locate people in some far flung places, including an itinerate sheep shearer in remote Australian bush and a man living and working in Brunei.
Firearms Licensing Manager Senior Sergeant Richard Smith said: "We know that expired licences in some cases can be a genuine oversight and each case is looked at on its merits, but every expired licence is an illegally held firearm and we can't condone such weapons being accessible.
"In many cases the team locate the licence holder only to find they have sold the weapons on, but don't know who to. This is irresponsible and if we are to prevent weapons getting into the wrong hands, it is vital that the police are notified of any transfer of weapons with details of the new owner."
It is also important that firearms owners make sure the address details on the licence are accurate and that the licence states what should happen to the weapons in the event of their death. There have been many cases where firearms have remained unlicensed in homes after someone's death because loved ones are unsure what they are supposed to do with them.
If no specific arrangement has been made to transfer ownership to a licensed person then the police should be contacted to arrange for the weapon to be collected.
Anyone who has any licensing questions should contact the Firearms Licensing Unit on 06 351 2550.
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Kim Perks on 06 351 2546 or 027 234 8256.