KEY POINTS:
Victims of gun crime have expressed concern at the number of young men posing with firearms on the internet.
An extensive search of social networking site Bebo by the Herald on Sunday has revealed multiple cases of Kiwi teenagers posing with real and replica weapons, many wearing gang-style bandannas.
The results, which have shocked police, come less than three weeks after Navtej Singh was gunned down in his liquor store in south Auckland.
They have been condemned by New Zealand Council of Licensed Firearms Owners chairman John Howat, who criticised the web postings as "glorification" of guns.
Police superintendent John Rivers said he was used to adult gang members and other "socially-challenged people" brandishing firearms of all descriptions in photos.
"What's new to me is the dimension of young people doing that," he said. "My speculation is they're trying to enhance their credibility in the eyes of people of a similar ilk."
Rivers said that while some of the weapons might be replicas, "dynamic changes" in New Zealand society had triggered a two-year investigation into gun crime and the police response.
Howat said some of the firearms in the photos were real - including a double-barrelled shotgun - and some were high-powered airguns, like the one used to kill Singh. But he said airgun owners had to be 18 and some of the subjects looked younger.
"They are trying to look menacing. Whether those guns are real or not real they are creating a bad impression and a misuse of those guns comes back against responsible, law-abiding firearms owners," said Howat. "People see those photos and say, 'Ban guns'."
New Zealand had about 213,000 registered firearm licence holders at the end of April - a figure that has remained relatively stable in recent years.
But police report a huge increase in first-time applicants, with the annual figure up from 4700 in 2001 to 8400 in 2007 last year.
The images obtained by the Herald on Sunday have angered Tai Hobson, whose wife Mary was murdered by William Bell at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA seven years ago.
"They are terrifying people. Most like the power, otherwise they wouldn't use them."
Hobson said it was just a matter of time before New Zealand adopted America's gun culture.
"Now is the time for our hierarchy to prepare for that. They've got to look into the future."
The father of Karl Kuchenbecker, who was shot dead by convicted killer Graeme Burton last year, is a keen hunter who opposes a gun ban.
But Paul Kuchenbecker said it was worrying youths had access to firearms and urged parents to keep them on the "right side of the road".
A Bebo spokeswoman said any content deemed to contravene the law or the site's terms of use was immediately suspended and investigated.
She said that Bebo had close working relationships with crime-prevention organisations and Kiwi youth support groups, including Skylight and Lifeline.
