(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,

See Full Page