(NewsNation) — FBI Director Kash Patel gifted New Zealand officials with inoperable 3D-printed pistols that were illegal to possess under local gun laws earlier this year, reports said.
Patel, who traveled to Wellington in July to open the bureau’s first office in New Zealand, gave the guns to New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers; Andrew Hampton, the director-general of the country’s intelligence service; and Andrew Clark, the director-general of the Government Communications Security Bureau.
“While inoperable in the form they were gifted, a subsequent analysis by the Firearms Safety Authority and Police Armory determined that modifications could have made them operable,” said Chambers.
“To ensure compliance with firearms laws, I instructed Police to retain and destroy them,” he added.
Law enforcement agencies did not specify whether the officials who met with Patel held such permits, but they could not have legally kept the gifts if they did not.
Under New Zealand law, pistols are firmly restricted weapons, and possessing one requires an additional permit beyond a regular gun license. Anyone in the country who illegally owns a pistol in New Zealand can face a maximum prison sentence of three years or a fine of four thousand New Zealand dollars ($2,300 U.S.).
There has been no suggestion Patel will face charges.