The weapons haul is believed to be one of the largest in New Zealand history.
In a statement released on Friday, police said after visiting a man’s property to serve a notice of temporary suspension, which allows them to revoke his firearms licence, they discovered and seized 478 firearms.
The seizure includes five pistols.
Six of the confiscated firearms were registered in the man’s name and, although gun safes were in use, a large number of firearms were unsecured.
Southland area commander Inspector Mike Bowman said the major safety issues were very alarming.
"It’s shocking to see so many firearms unsecured ... the scale of it is concerning," he said.
No charges have been laid at this time, but Insp Bowman said this might change as police investigated the collection’s size, improper storage and lack of registration.
The potential of the unregistered firearms being sold to criminal groups was also considered.
Insp Bowman said due to the sheer size of the collection, the investigation would take quite some time.
Multiple firearm purchases since 2023 caught the eye of police, who noticed not all of the man’s purchases were registered in the Firearms Registry, as legally required. Purchasers must also register any existing firearms they already own.
Due to the volume of weapons, numerous vehicles were needed to remove them.
The firearms will be held in secure custody during the investigation.
"Information shared by police enabled us to quickly suspend the man's licence and remove this considerable number of unlawfully held firearms,'' she said.
However, Council of Licensed Firearms Owners spokesman Hugh Devereux-Mack said it was important not to assume any ill intent before the investigation.
"I’d be interested to hear what the justification was, what he owned the firearms for, why he hadn’t registered them.
"We don’t know if they were to be sold for criminal activity, or if he was just lazy," he said.
Mr Devereux-Mack said he had heard from many licence-holders who had difficulty with the registry system, finding it difficult to use with multiple points of action.
Although he stressed the importance of following the law and registering firearms, Mr Devereux-Mack said it had to be a two-way street.
"I think you need to make the process as easy as possible for ... [gun owners] to be law-abiding."
The Ministry of Justice released a review into the registry, stating it was cost-effective, contributed to public safety, and helped mitigate the risk of black-market transactions.
Mr Devereux-Mack called for a change to the system.
"We should be focusing on writing good laws which are easy to follow, so [gun owners] don’t accidentally become criminals and tie up police resources.
"There isn’t any evidence the register is actually making anyone safe, and it’s costing us all," he said.
