Of nearly 900 firearms offences committed over six months, only 18 were carried out by people with an active gun licence.

A member of the Indian Business Association, who did not want to be named, told RNZ about an incident at his Auckland petrol station, in which he tried to stop a customer driving away without paying.

He had opened the passenger side door and was confronted with a gun, he said.

“He just pointed the gun toward me, and that was a shotgun,” he said.

“He said ‘f*** off’, so I immediately hands up, and just left the car, let him go.”