Molenaar arsenal included army rifles

Napier gunman Jan Molenaar. Photo / Supplied

Two semi-automatic rifles found in the Napier home of gunman Jan Molenaar were former army firearms which had been sold off to the public.

Molenaar shot dead Constable Len Snee and wounded three others before barricading himself in his Chaucer Rd home in May for more than two days.

He was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his bedroom.

An SLR (self-loading rifle), the standard issue Defence Force rifle from the 1960s through to the 1980s, was photographed by police in Molenaar's bedroom after the siege ended.

The other rifle was not identified by police.

The rifles were sold through the Government Disposals Bureau before 1990, Defence Force spokesman Commander Shaun Fogarty said.

He did not say whether the firearms were bought by Molenaar.

The Defence Force introduced a new weapons inventory and accounting system in 2000 to make it easier to track weapons, and the Army was now microchipping all of its firearms for faster and more accurate stocktaking and tracking.

Commander Fogarty said only a single 9mm pistol had been unaccounted for over the past decade.

Before 2000, records showed six 9mm pistols and two Steyr rifles reported as missing or not accounted for between 1990 and 1997.

A number of "trophies" - weapons decommissioned and mounted for public display - had also been lost during that period, including an inoperative pistol, an inoperative and incomplete grenade launcher, an inoperative sub-machinegun and two inoperative rifles.

The Defence Force also gave information and costings relating to the use of LAV vehicles to help recover Mr Snee's body during the Napier siege.

They were used at the request of the police with the approval of the Defence Force chief and Defence Minister. The LAVs cost a total of $5715 to use.

- NZPA