Call for federal crackdown as violent criminals using deadly illegal firearms across Australia
An explosion of underworld violence is being driven by about million illegal firearms circulating across the nation, sparking calls for federal government action.
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An explosion of underworld violence and low-level crooks firing illegal guns across Melbourne are the drivers behind calls for the federal government to crackdown on illicit firearms.
There are nearly one million registered firearms in Victoria and almost the same amount of illegal guns circulating across the country, many of which have fallen into the wrong hands.
Violent gangland figures, contract killers and low-level criminals have little trouble sourcing the deadly weapons for violence plaguing Melbourne’s streets for the best part of two years.
There have been countless drive-by shootings of homes and businesses, a handful of alleged murders and a number of shootouts as a result of local drug disputes.
Firearms data indicated that, as of June last year, there were 960,693 registered guns across the state with 236,609 Victorians holding licenses to own them.
There are also four million guns owned by Australians — which is 25 per cent higher than the year Martin Bryant murdered 35 people in what became the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre.
But there are major concerns that the unknown number of illicit firearms — which have largely been used for the violence hitting the city — will continue without swift and stricter gun control.
Leading Deakin University criminologist Professor David Bright said the use of 3D printers — which are now easily accessible to many — made the lethal weapons readily available to those who needed them to kill.
He said there could be anywhere up to 800,000 illegal guns in the hands of criminals across the country.
“The fear is their accessibility will increase the risk of them falling into the hands of organised crime or extremist groups,” he said.
“A National Firearms Register was supposed to be established as part of the National Firearms Agreement following the events at Port Arthur in 1996, but progress towards developing one has been slow.”
He said the Albanese government needed to prioritise tracking and tracing the number of illegal guns to keep deadly violence off the streets.
“The number of registered and unregistered firearms in the community should be of concern,” Prof. Bright added.
“It should be a priority for politicians and for voters as we head into a federal election.”
Killers are likely to have sourced illegal guns to eliminate rivals in Melbourne’s simmering and volatile gangland scene over the past year.
A high-powered automatic weapon is believed to have been used to execute underworld figure Hawre Sherwani as he drove in his car at Caroline Springs in January.
The murder weapon used to kill Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim at the Quest Hotel in Preston is understood to be unaccounted for as the hunt for his killers nears two months.
Just a month earlier, Mahmoud Karam, who was under threat from several underworld players, was shot dead on a nature strip at Campbellfield.
A sawn-off shotgun, possibly belonging to the 60-year-old was found under a car just metres from where he was fatally shot.
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Originally published as Call for federal crackdown as violent criminals using deadly illegal firearms across Australia
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