Take advantage of gun amnesty: police

Police are encouraging residents to support the nationwide gun amnesty, which is running until September.

To date, five guns and ammunition have been handed in to the Kwinana Police Station, with Senior Sergeant Rob Read expecting more in the coming months.

“What we are looking at with the gun amnesty is the unlicensed firearms, the ones that shouldn’t be out on the streets,” he said.

“People will always be able to get hold of firearms if they want to, but the less firearms that are out there that are able to get into the wrong hands, the better.

“That is what the aim of this amnesty is — getting rid of these unlicensed firearms that people have sitting around at home.

“Generally, they are not in cabinets locked away, so if somebody breaks into a house they are more likely to steal an unlicensed firearm because they are not secure.”

The last amnesty ran by WA Police was in 2013, which resulted in more than 1200 guns being surrendered, with the current amnesty set to run until September 30.

“This is the ideal time to bring them in with no fear of prosecution at all if you have a firearm that has been hanging around at home that you’re not sure of,” Snr Sgt Read said.

“This is the ideal opportunity to bring it in, get it destroyed and off your hands.”

Senior Sergeant Brett Reyne confirmed that about half a dozen weapons had also been handed in at the Rockingham station over the past month.

“We are encouraging people that maybe have had a gun handed down through the generations and are not sure what to do with it to take it out of the shed and bring it in — no questions asked,” he said.

“The same applies to ammunition — by bringing it in, it can lift a weight off people’s minds.”

Police Minister Michelle Roberts said when guns fell into the wrong hands, the outcomes could be terrible and tragic.

“For whatever reason, people may be in possession of an unlicensed firearm,” she said.

“It’s possible relatives of deceased family members have come across guns in their loved one’s estate and are not sure what to do with them.”