DEADLY ARSENAL

MORE THAN 40 STOLEN GUNS ON BLACK MARKET

DOZENS of guns stolen in and around Geelong are on the black market with fears many are in the hands of dangerous criminals. Forty-two guns were stolen from the region last year and another dozen so far this year, and police hold serious concerns about the whereabouts of the weapons.

MORE than 40 firearms were stolen and moved into the black market last year, according to data obtained by the Geelong Advertiser.

The Crime Statistics Agency said 42 firearms were reported stolen last year — and a further dozen have been pinched already this year.

Inspector Gary Bruce said the numbers were of great concern to police, who feared that black market demand was surging. “This is extremely concerning but we are continuing to recover firearms and will continue to do so,” he said.

“Unfortunately there’s been a mixture of poor security by licensed gun holders but the majority are good. We would certainly encourage anyone who no longer has a need for their firearms to have them handed in or sold in the appropriate manner.”

The local firearm theft statistics coincide with fears a Government department leak of gun owners’ details late last year could have fallen into the hands of criminals.

Victoria’s top cop yesterday moved to quell the fears, saying he had been told none of the local firearm burglaries had been from gun owners on the leaked list.

“There was a case late last year when Department of Environment mistakenly has emailed details of people renewing their sporting/gaming licence with them, emailed it out actually to some customers,” Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told the ABC’s Jon Faine.

“There aren’t any cases, I’m getting informed — it’s being handled down at Geelong by Geelong police — they informed me on that one that no one on that list has been the subject of a robbery.

“We have had some firearm burglaries down that way this year but none of those firearm burglaries have been people on that list.”

Modewarre farmer Ross Matthews said he had received a letter from the Environment Department advising him of the leak and within months he was burgled and firearms valued at $30,000 were stolen from his property.

The gun collector said his rural neighbours had also been hit — with some having up to 13 firearms registered, most of them shotguns.

Environment Department spokesman Ewan Cook said Wise Workplace had been called in to perform an independent investigation of last year’s incident.

“The investigation is currently being finalised and, once complete, it will be provided to all potentially (affected) customers, Victoria Police and the Commissioner for Privacy and Data Protection to again ensure (the Environment Department) is following best practice,” he said.

Last week Victoria Police spokesman Thomas O’Byrne told the Advertiser that fire- arms and valuables had been stolen from two rural properties in Modewarre in separate incidents in April and May. There had been a third theft in Whittington.

This week the State Government unveiled a program to remove illegal guns from the streets with the formation of a new police unit to tackle firearm crime.

Money would be provided to hire 10 new officers.

Police Minister Lisa Neville said the new team was part of Victoria Police’s Armed Crime Squad, and would run overt and covert firearms operations throughout the state.

Anyone with information on stolen firearms is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.