The South has one of the highest rates of illegal gun seizures in the country, and an increasing gang presence is being blamed. In the past five years, Southern police have seized 857 illegal guns, information released to the Otago Daily Times shows. With that growth came a corresponding upsurge in the presence of illegal firearms, he said. He believed Operation Tauwhiro, a national operation targeting gun violence, had contributed to the high number of guns seized. "Disturbingly but not surprisingly, illegal firearms were located in many of these incidents."

Source: Otago Daily Times August 11, 2021 15:45 UTC