Gun amnesty removes 152 guns from SW

The number of firearms handed in to South West police nearly trebled in the last two weeks of the National Firearms Amnesty.

South West district police Insp. Peter Morrissey has labelled the amnesty as an “outstanding” result after the three-month appeal for unlicensed firearms ended on Saturday night.

Following a media campaign last month to remind illegal gun holders they had a fortnight to turn in their firearms, a further 93 were handed in from the region for a total of 152 firearms. The big jump was up from 59 on September 15.

The 152 firearms surrendered in the South West are part of the 1242 from across the State.

“It was an outstanding response by the South West community to the program,” Insp. Morrissey said.

“To have a further 93 firearms handed in, in only two weeks is a great result.

“As the firearms were unlicensed they were not subject to inspection scrutiny nor were they subject to the safe storage requirements that exist in Western Australia.

“This makes them an easy target for theft and the possibility of them being in the possession of people with nefarious intent.”

The State’s big haul included 186 shotguns, 860 rifles and 196 handguns along with 65,618 rounds of ammunition.

A breakdown of the South West firearms will be available next week, but sawn-off shotguns and a homemade rifle with a homemade silencer were in the mix.

Insp. Morrissey said while the amnesty had ended, people could still hand in firearms that were not obtained illegally or used in crimes, without risk of prosecution.