Firearm News
Serbia,Australia,United States
Serbians Hand In Thousands of Guns After Two Mass Killings
12 May 2023
Washington Post
Serbians handed in thousands of guns in the first three days of an amnesty aimed at disarming the country following two mass killings last week, including one targeting schoolchildren.
Almost 6,000 unregistered weapons, 300,000 rounds of ammunition, and 470 pieces of mines and explosive devices have been voluntarily surrendered nationwide since Monday, the country's interior ministry said Thursday in an Instagram post promoting the measure.
President Aleksandar Vucic... (GunPolicy.org)
First Year of New Australian Firearm Amnesty Nets 17,000 Guns
21 January 2023
Guardian
More than 17,000 weapons, including a Vietnam war-era flamethrower, were surrendered in the first year of Australia's national permanent firearms amnesty.
States and territories struck an agreement with the Commonwealth in 2019 to establish an enduring amnesty allowing gun owners to hand in unregistered, illegal, or unwanted firearms without punishment or investigation.
The amnesty began in mid-2021, after Covid-related delays, aiming to claw back some of the roughly... (GunPolicy.org)
Warrant Issued for Killer Before He Shot Two Australian Police
22 December 2022
Guardian
Queensland police have revealed there was a warrant issued for Nathaniel Train's arrest in the months before he took part in the Wieambilla shootings, but insist there were no "flags" to indicate officers visiting the property were in danger.
Deputy commissioner Tracy Linford said Train's gun licence had been suspended and an arrest warrant issued after he breached Covid-19 restrictions in December 2021.
During that incident, Train had crossed the border from New... (GunPolicy.org)
3D-printed Guns Are On The Rise in Australia
9 November 2022
The Conversation (Australia)
Last week, police seized about 80 illegal firearms across Victoria. These included eight homemade firearms, four of which were "military-style weapons", as well as two 3D printers.
This is the latest in a series of seizures of 3D-printed weapons in Australia:
- in 2016, Queensland police discovered a 3D printer in a raid on a "large-scale" firearms production facility
- in September 2021, New South Wales counter-terrorism police arrested a right-wing extremist for... (GunPolicy.org)
China, Australia Must Not Turn Solomon Islands Into a Gun State
5 November 2022
Guardian, Opinion
My country once lived in fear of the gun. Thousands of weapons, many stolen from police armouries, fuelled the years of violence known as "the tensions", and disarming the police and population took years. Now, it seems China and Australia want to turn Solomon Islands into a gun state again.
This week Australia announced it would give the Royal Solomon Islands police force 13 vehicles and 60 MK-18 semi-automatic rifles – a move described as a "gamechanger" that... (GunPolicy.org)
'Ghost guns' and 3D printing: Secret arsenals in Australia
4 November 2022
Brisbane Times / Nine
KEY POINTS
- There have been 11 fatal, and 15 non-fatal, shootings in Victoria this year.
- Police have also seized numerous illicit weapons, including a cache of firearms found hidden in a storage container in Melbourne's outer north.
- Many criminals rely on "grey market" guns that should have been relinquished in the 1996 buy-back scheme.
- The use of 3D printing to create weapons is also becoming more sophisticated and common.
In a storage container on a property... (GunPolicy.org)
Australia Donates 60 Rifles to Solomon Islands Police Force
2 November 2022
Guardian
Australia has provided Solomon Islands police with MK18 rifles and vehicles. Photograph: Australian High Commission to Solomon Islands
Australia has announced the donation of police vehicles and 60 MK18 rifles to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) in a move described as a "game changer" for Australia's relationship with Solomon Islands police.
The announcement comes after a turbulent year in the relationship between Australia and Solomon Islands,... (GunPolicy.org)
3D-printed firearm seized in Western Australia
14 June 2022
Armament Research Services (ARES), Web page
On 12 June 2022, the Western Australia Police Force (WAPOL) held a press conference to present the first fully functional 3D-printed firearm seized in the Australian state of Western Australia (WA) to date. The gun was reportedly seized on 3 June 2022 from an 18-year-old individual who had manufactured it at his home in the suburb of Bayswater, WA. In addition to the firearm, WAPOL reportedly also found a 3D printer, a suppressor, ammunition, and a set-up to make... (GunPolicy.org)
United Kingdom,Australia,United States,New Zealand
Australia, UK, New Zealand Tackled Mass Shootings
1 June 2022
CNN, Opinion
A man – almost always a man – commonly with no criminal history and no diagnosis of mental illness, armed with a lawfully obtained semiautomatic 'assault' weapon, kills and injures a large number of innocents in a place they imagined to be safe.
It happens around the world, but horrifyingly more and more often in the United States, most recently in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
To those of us who live in culturally similar nations, but where the... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian MP Misfires With Wild Guns in School Quote
1 April 2022
Australian Associated Press / AAP
Federal independent MP Bob Katter has a reputation for shooting from the hip in media interviews but has badly misfired with a claim that Israel, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland provide schoolchildren with guns.
The claim is wrong. Government authorities in each of the four nations mentioned by Mr Katter have confirmed to AAP FactCheck that schoolchildren in their countries are not provided with guns and schools do not have armouries.
Mr Katter, who has been the MP... (GunPolicy.org)
Western Australia to 'Rewrite' its Firearm Laws
22 March 2022
Sydney Morning Herald
Premier Mark McGowan and Police Minister Paul Papalia on Tuesday announced an overhaul of the state's gun ownership laws.
It has been revealed the number of licensed firearms in the state had soared by 60 per cent, with a gun owner on close to every suburban street.
A WA Police map showed around 3.4 per cent of the population, or 89,000 people, hold gun licences. They possessed, on average, four firearms each – which reflected national figures.
And while the number... (GunPolicy.org)
Western Australia to Rewrite State's Gun Control Law
21 March 2022
West Australian (Perth)
Western Australia's outdated firearms laws will be completely rewritten by the McGowan Government, as shocking new maps reveal the true scale of gun ownership in suburban Perth.
The maps -- provided to The West Australian from the WA Police Force database -- show how prolific the potentially lethal weapons have become in every corner of the city.
Each green dot represents a house where a handgun - such as a revolver or pistol - is being stored, while the thousands... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Australia,New Zealand,United Kingdom,Falkland Islands,Mexico
How US Gun Culture Stacks Up With the World
26 November 2021
CNN
Ubiquitous gun violence in the United States has left few places unscathed over the decades. Still, many Americans hold their right to bear arms, enshrined in the US Constitution, as sacrosanct. But critics of the Second Amendment say that right threatens another: The right to life.
America's relationship to gun ownership is unique, and its gun culture is a global outlier.
As the tally of gun-related deaths continue to grow daily, here's a look at how gun culture in... (GunPolicy.org)
Guns in High Demand in Papua New Guinea
19 October 2021
Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea)
As the 2022 National General Election looms, firearms are being smuggled into the Highlands region from various parts of the country, says an identified firearms dealer.
According to the dealer who is from the Southern Highland's upper Mendi area who agreed to speak to the Post-Courier anonymously, the demand for firearms has increased significantly –– especially from intending candidates from the Highlands.
The dealer said that most weapons are supplied from... (GunPolicy.org)
Permanent Gun Amnesty Declared in Australia
1 July 2021
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Australians will be able to surrender their illegal or unregistered firearms without fear of being fined or prosecuted under a new nationwide permanent amnesty that begins on Thursday.
The first rolling program of its type will allow anyone in possession of an illicit or unwanted firearm to hand it over to authorities in a renewed attempt by state and federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the tens of thousands of illicit weapons that fall into criminal hands.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Lest We Forget Massacre Victims
28 April 2021
The Australian
Twenty-five years after the Port Arthur massacre, which triggered national firearm controls, the number of gun owners and gun deaths has fallen dramatically, amid claims that states are eroding the landmark laws.
Wednesday marks a quarter of a century to the day since Martin Bryant's shooting spree on the Tasman Peninsula left 35 people dead and 18 wounded, shaking Australia from its gun culture complacency.
The National Firearms Agreement, brokered by then-prime... (GunPolicy.org)
Still No Firearms Registry 25 Years After Port Arthur Massacre
11 April 2021
Advertiser (Adelaide)
As the 25-year anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre approaches, a News Corp investigation has revealed the National Firearms Agreement, signed in the days following the massacre, is riddled with loopholes.
A number of changes agreed by the states and territories in response to the massacre, in which 35 people were killed and 20 injured by a lone gunman at Port Arthur in Tasmania, have never been implemented.
And some laws have since been watered-down as the states... (GunPolicy.org)
Africa,Americas,Asia,Europe,Oceania
Basic Steps That Can Stop Catastrophic Explosions at Munition Sites
8 April 2021
Conversation
A series of massive blasts recently rocked Equatorial Guinea's city of Bata. The explosions, at an army barracks, killed over 100 people and destroyed military buildings as well as people's homes around the site. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema stated that the explosions were "caused by negligence of the unit in charge of storing explosives, dynamite and ammunition at the Nkoa Ntoma military camp".
Unplanned explosions at munitions sites have occurred on all continents... (GunPolicy.org)
Multiple Arrests and Firearms Seized in Australian Police Raids
7 April 2021
Australian Border Force, Media release
Law enforcement agencies across Australia seized 823 firearms last month as part of a national week of action.
Operation Athena, a collaborative and national law enforcement group comprising of police from jurisdictions across Australia with assistance from Federal agencies including Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) undertook a national week of action across Australia to target the trafficking and use of illicit firearms.
A number... (GunPolicy.org)
New Zealand Sees a Rise In Gun Crime Despite Government Clampdown on Guns
15 March 2021
RNZ (New Zealand)
The government's clampdown on firearms and seizures of high-powered semi-automatic weapons has had no impact on a rise in gun crime and violence in New Zealand.
Today marks the second anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks, in which military style semi-automatic weapons, purchased legally, were used to gun down 51 innocent worshippers.
That sparked tougher gun laws and the much debated firearms buy-back.
But in 2020, gun crime hit a new peak.
Police figures... (GunPolicy.org)