A Glen Innes firearms dealer said that 40 guns had been handed in to him with half of the amnesty on illegal firearms over – but none of the guns seemed suspicious.
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Nick Ward of Grey Street Spare Parts, which is allowed to accept firearms handed in either to be destroyed or to be registered, said criminals were unlikely to take the opportunity.
“They aren’t going to wake up one morning and say, ‘OK, there’s an amnesty. I’ll hand it in’.”
The amnesty is from July 1 to September 30 and he hopes more people will come forward to put themselves on the right side of the law.
The amnesty was announced earlier this year to try to calm fears about gun violence and illegal weapons in criminal hands.
Mr Ward said about 40 weapons had been handed in to his business, half to be destroyed and the rest to be registered and then taken away by the owner legally.
“Most them are old bits of rubbish, basically’, he said. “There are a couple of guns that are OK but nothing of any great value and nothing dangerous.”
But there is no doubt there are illegal guns still out there, some of them modern and fit for firing to commit crime.
Last week, Glen Innes court heard how a loaded semi-automatic rifle, ready to be fired, was found on the back seat of a car that the police stopped. There were live rounds in the chamber of the gun and in a magazine.
The arrested man, Joshua Sheridan, told the police he got the gun from a friend but wouldn’t say who that person was. He told the court he “didn’t want to get his friend into the matter”. Nor could he explain why he had a loaded weapon.
He was found guilty of having a prohibited fire-arm and a loaded fire-arm in a public place. Magistrate Michael Holmes said this was a “serious matter’. The offender was fined $1300 but escaped jail. He was given a suspended sentence. “For the next 12 months, you will be walking on egg-shells,” Mr Holmes warned Sheridan.
