Police say it was lucky that a responsible adult found a shotgun which fell off the back of a vehicle in Oamaru on Wednesday afternoon.
The 20-gauge unloaded Benelli shotgun was found lying in the middle of the Wansbeck and Severn Sts intersection by a member of the public just after 3pm and police were contacted, Sergeant Wayne Brew said.
There were children nearby when police officers arrived, as school had just ended for the day, and the woman who called police had kept people away from the gun.
The gun's owner later went to the Oamaru Police Station to report that he had either left it where he had been hunting and it had been stolen, or he had left it on his vehicle as he drove off.
The gun could have "ended up in the wrong hands", Sgt Brew said.
