Research reveals gun owners are stockpiling weapons in Coast suburbs
SOME Central Coast residents are amassing private arsenals according to the Greens, with more than 23,000 registered firearms in the region.
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SOME Central Coast residents are amassing private arsenals according to the Greens, with more than 23,000 registered firearms in the region.
New research by the Greens has found while fewer households own guns, the concentration of ownership has increased — including one at Gosford with 114 guns, another at The Entrance with 115 and someone at Avoca Beach with 87.
Greens MP and gun control spokesman David Shoebridge said the figures highlighted both the Labor and Liberal’s failure on gun laws.
“There are now 100 individuals across the state who own more than 70 guns,” he said.
“These gun owners are not collectors or arms dealers but private individuals who have been allowed to amass private arsenals,” Mr Shoebridge said.
“This is because a loophole in NSW’s gun laws allows private individuals to use the same reason to buy their 1st, 10th or 310th gun.
“We need to close this loophole immediately, there is no good reason for a private individual to own hundreds of guns.”
He said the total number of guns in NSW had jumped by 65,000 in just two years.
“There are now over 900,000 registered guns across the state and the Central Coast has more than 23,000.
“Fewer households own guns, but ownership has become more concentrated.
“It is inevitable that some of these private arsenals will end up in the hands of criminals.
“If this trend is allowed to continue NSW will have over one million registered guns within another two years.”
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He said a 20-year review of gun laws enacted after the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 did not even look at capping the number of guns that could be owned by an individual.
People can look up how many guns were in their neighbourhood by searching the postcode on the Greens’ website Too Many Guns website.