Three tonnes of firearms, including rifles, pistols and shotguns, will be destroyed and melted into other items by NSW police this month.
The collection of assault weapons, which totals 3228kg, has either been seized in a criminal investigation or handed over by community members.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb said that getting guns off the streets is a further effort to make the public feel safer.
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“We’ve all seen the harm that is caused by the unlawful use of firearms and the fear it can cause within the broader community,” Commissioner Webb said in a media release.
“Some of these items are collected through long term, complex criminal investigations and others are located through isolated search warrants and police incidents.
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“By destroying these weapons, we prevent any that are kept for legitimate purposes falling into the wrong hands and used in other crimes.”
Firearms seized by police in Police Area Commands, Police Districts and specialist Commands get directed to the NSW Police Weapons and Ordnance Disposal Unit, where each weapon is audited and processed for destruction.
A firearm amnesty enforced last year in July also allowed members of the public to surrender their unregistered firearms with no questions asked or fear of prosecution.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Police Paul Toole welcomed the destruction of firearms and said NSW Police would continue to crack down on illegal activity, including tracking down unregistered assault weapons.
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“We know the vast majority of those in our community possess firearms for a valid reason – and then there are those who use these weapons to inflict fear and cause serious harm to others,” Mr Toole said.
“Police across the state are committed to getting those weapons off our street to keep our community safe.”
Following the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, many have praised Australia’s restriction on gun laws.
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Many took to Twitter, expressing that America needed to follow Australia’s footsteps after the Federal government reformed gun laws in response to the Port Arthur mass shooting in 1996, where 35 people died.
One person wrote: “I’m not a John Howard fan at all but the one good thing he did was implement stricter gun laws in Australia. My father handed in his rifle as part of the gun buy back scheme.”
Another commented: “Australia took their last mass murder seriously. Passed gun laws immediately. But they value their ppl over guns. America. Guns over people. Because we have no reading comprehension.”
Charisa Bossinakis