The police say it is "incredibly concerning" that the storage of guns was inadequate in many cases where firearms were stolen.
They say a random study of 133 reported gun thefts showed in nearly two thirds of cases, guns were not being stored in a way that met the law.
Of those, half had been taken from unattended vehicles.
The secretary of the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners, Nicole McKee, says those figures don't tally with information she's had from police.
But regardless, she told RNZ's reporter, Ben Strang, there can be no excuses for owners who take a lax approach to securing their firearms.
