Tasmanians have handed in almost 2,000 unregistered and unwanted firearms during the National Firearms Amnesty, Tasmania Police say.
Surrendered firearms consisted of 745 shotguns, 1071 rifles and 108 handguns, including:
- 2 x SKS military-style semi-automatic rifles handed in, one in the north and one in the south.
- .222 calibre rifle handed in anonymously to a North-West firearms dealer and later determined to have been stolen from a man in the North-East in 1995.
- 150-year-old antique Belgian Lefaucheux 9mm pinfire revolver in good condition, along with a tin of original rounds handed in by a woman in Southern Tasmania. The woman said she believed the revolver was used as protection on mail train services. Discussions are underway to donate it to TMAG.
- Norinco NZ75 9mm pistol handed in in the south and listed as being stolen since 1995.
"During the three-month National Firearms Amnesty period of 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017, a colossal amount of illegal and/or unwanted firearms were surrendered and can no longer end up in the hands of criminals," said Inspector Kathy Bennett from Tasmania Police Firearms Services.
"Since 1997 Tasmania has had a permanent firearms amnesty, meaning that anyone can hand in an unregistered firearm without penalty. The number of firearms surrendered during the high-profile national three month campaign shows just how important these amnesties are in getting illegal firearms out of circulation."
"On behalf of Tasmania Police I would like to thank every person who handed in a firearm during the amnesty, they have contributed to making our community a safer place."
The post 1,924 Firearms Handed In During National Firearms Amnesty appeared first on Tasmania Police.
