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CENTRAL Victorians will be able to hand in unregistered and unwanted firearms from July 1 as part of the first national gun amnesty since the Howard government’s 1996 buy-back.
It will also be the first gun amnesty in Bendigo since 2012, when the state government allowed gun owners to return unregistered weapons.
That amnesty proved to be popular in Bendigo – the city had more weapons returned than any other region in Victoria.
Police received 164 weapons – nearly double the next highest region. Ninety per cent of the weapons handed in from Bendigo were unregistered, mostly 12-gauge shotguns and 0.22-calibre rifles.
The federal amnesty comes in response to concerns about increased terrorist activity.
Federal justice minister Michael Keenan said just one gun in the wrong hands could be deadly.
“This is as much about giving a family a chance to get rid of an old heirloom as it is about getting rid of guns off our streets,” he said.
“There is no cost involved with handing in firearms or related items for destruction.”
Weapons offences in Bendigo have increased in the last four years, including an 87 per cent increase in the 3550 postcode.
The 3555 postcode – which takes in Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat – has seen a 162 per cent increase in weapons offences from 2013 to 2017.
Rural properties have become a major target for weapons, including those kept legally and safely in safes.
In January last year a group of offenders stole nine firearms from a property in Axedale after finding keys to a gun safe.
The crime prompted police to warn people on rural properties to ensure their safes, as well as the keys, were kept away from would-be offenders.
Five guns were also stolen from a Muckleford property last October.
A total of 39 firearms were stolen in the Bendigo area in 2014 and 2015.
The gun amnesty starts on July 1. Visit the National Firearms Amnesty website for more details.