Queenslanders hand in 16,126 firearms during national amnesty
Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Mark Ryan and Deputy Commissioner Bob Gee yesterday announced that Queenslanders have handed in over 16,000 firearms as part of the national gun amnesty.
From July 1 to September 30, a total of 16,126 firearms were surrendered for registration, safekeeping or destruction.
Of this total, 6897 firearms have been registered to existing firearm licensees, 174 firearms have been stored for safekeeping, 2974 will be destroyed and 6081 continue to be processed.
Deputy Commissioner Gee said he was pleased with the response.
“This amnesty will help keep our community safe by ensuring those firearms don’t fall into the wrong hands,” Deputy Commissioner Gee said.
“Any firearm in the wrong hands can have tragic consequences.”
Minister Ryan said the success of the amnesty showed Queenslanders were overwhelmingly firm in their backing of strict gun control to keep the community safe.
“The quantity of firearms surrendered has been very positive. It has shown Queenslanders want our state to be a safe place,” Minister Ryan said.
“Reducing unregistered firearms improves public safety.”
A breakdown of already processed firearms surrendered by category are:
Category A – 6528
Category B – 2546
Category C – 371
Category D – 135
Category H – 396
Category M & E – 41
Category R – 28
A description of these categories can be found here.
A breakdown of firearms surrendered by policing districts are:
Northern Region – 408
Central Region – 1371
Southern Region – 967
South Eastern Region – 475
Brisbane Region – 590
Number of firearms registered/surrendered at firearms dealers: 6234
“Thank you to firearms dealers for their co-operation during the amnesty,” Deputy Commissioner Gee said.
“Should any person within the community still possess an unregistered firearm they should make arrangements with their local police to surrendering the firearm.”
If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
Source: Brisbane Crime Alert
