FBI Director Kash Patel’s gifts to New Zealand security officials, inoperable 3D-printed revolvers modeled after colorful Nerf toy guns, were not as well received as he may have hoped.
The plastic Maverick PG22 pistols, popular among amateur weapons hobbyists, were surrendered by five top officials for destruction because they violated New Zealand’s strict gun laws.
The incident highlights the schism between American gun culture and New Zealand’s tight firearms restrictions, which were strengthened after the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people. It also raises questions about diplomatic gift-giving protocols when visiting countries with different weapons laws.
Patel, the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit New Zealand, presented the replica revolvers as part of display stands during his July visit to open the FBI’s first standalone office in the country. Recipients included police commissioner Andrew Coster, spy chiefs Andrew Hampton and Andrew Clark, and two cabinet ministers.
Despite being inoperable, the guns met New Zealand’s legal definition of firearms because they could be easily converted to working weapons. Police armory team leader Daniel Millar wrote in an August email that making them functional required only “minimal skills and common ‘handyperson’ tools,” the Associated Press reported.
“These processes are very straight forward processes and require minimal skills and common ‘handyperson’ tools,” Millar wrote, specifying “a battery drill and a drill bit for the holes and a small screw for the firing pin.”
Pistols require special permits beyond standard gun licenses in New Zealand, where firearms ownership is considered a privilege rather than a right. The law enforcement agencies did not state whether the officials who met with Patel held such permits.
New Zealand’s police union reported in February that the Maverick PG22 was among the most common 3D-printed guns seized by officers. The weapons lack proper safety features and pose a risk of exploding during use.
“The first risk is that it can be made viable and it gets into the hands of the wrong person and it’s used for a crime,” said Alexander Gillespie, a firearms regulation professor at the University of Waikato, per AP. “The second risk is it just explodes because it’s not actually safe. There’s a reason these have been made in people’s backyards instead of coming from an armory.”
Police destroyed all five revolvers on September 25, denying their armory team’s request to keep one for testing. The department also refused to release photos of the guns, claiming it “would be likely to prejudice New Zealand’s relations with the United States of America,” according to AP.
A spokesperson for Patel didn’t respond to requests for comment on Monday about the diplomatic misstep.
The incident underscores cultural differences in attitudes toward firearms between the two allied nations. While 3D-printed weapons have gained popularity among American hobbyists, New Zealand views them through the lens of public safety following its worst mass shooting.
Front-line police officers in New Zealand rarely carry weapons on patrol, keeping them locked in vehicles instead. Many urban residents have never seen a firearm in person, reflecting the country’s cautious approach to gun ownership since Christchurch.
