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Photo: NZ Police / Supplied
When police raided several Auckland homes in April, they found four 3D printers that were being used to manufacture guns - two of which were in operation when police went in.
A month later, in an unrelated search in the Bay of Plenty, police found a 3D printer, filaments and firearm parts, including 3D-printed stocks, barrels, receivers, pistol grips and magazines.
There were also pins, springs and a shopping list for parts that included triggers in Karl Hutton's Te Puke home.
That find came after police discovered messaging between Hutton and an associate that suggested the manufacturing of firearms.
In the same room were live.22-calibre ammunition rounds and shotgun rounds.
A police summary of facts revealed the most common calibre of 3D-printed firearms is.22.
When spoken to by police, the 43-year-old told them he manufactured "replica firearms" and didn't want police looking at his phone "for personal reasons".
Hutton pleaded guilty to charges that included attempted manufacture of firearms, as police didn't find a complete manufactured firearm.
He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by Judge Thomas Ingram in the Tauranga District Court.
Judge Ingram said 3D printing of firearms "fills me with great concern for our society", noting that, in his experience, there had been an "explosion" in the amount of firearm offending he was dealing with in his courts, especially in the Bay of Plenty and Hamil
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