Weapons haul, police shootings prompt questions over New Zealand gun laws

Lawmakers have called for a review of New Zealand's gun regime after police announced the seizure of a massive haul of automatic weapons in the same week four police officers were shot and wounded.

Police said Friday they found a large number of firearms, including military-assault type weapons, during raids on an alleged methamphetamine production ring in Auckland a day earlier.

One man was alleged to have had a 9 mm handgun next to his bed when he was arrested, while police found two firearms and ammunition at a heavily-fortified building housing a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory.

A raid on a home in south Auckland turned up another 14 guns, including AK47s and M16s.

"Establishing exactly where these firearms have come from is now a priority for us, and we will make many enquiries into this over the coming days," Detective Senior Sergeant Lloyd Schmid, of the Police Organised Crime Group, said in a statement.

The main opposition Labour Party on Friday called for an independent inquiry into the availability, use and control of guns in New Zealand.

The number of guns confiscated by police over the past four years had risen by 50 percent, Labour police spokesperson Stuart Nash said in a statement.

"In the 2011-2012 year there were 1,010 guns confiscated. That rose to 1,504 in the 2014-2015 year. We need to know what is driving this behavior," said Nash.

The inquiry should be about disarming the criminals, rather than arming the New Zealand police, who carry firearms in patrol cars, but rarely on their person.

Nash cited Police Commissioner Mike Bush, who had recently told Parliament's Law and Order Select Committee that "We can't keep our communities safe if we can't keep our own people safe."

Police Minister Judith Collins has reportedly rejected calls for a universal gun register on the grounds that "people who are criminals are not going to go around registering their guns."

Four police officers were shot and wounded on Wednesday during a drugs operation in a rural area in the Bay of Plenty, on the east of the North Island.

The incident sparked a day-long siege involving military armored cars at a house before the alleged gunman surrendered quietly to police.

Three of the wounded officers have been treated and discharged from hospital, while the fourth is in a serious but stable condition. Endit