Amnesty’s silver bullet

ple weren’t comfortable taking their unregistered or unlicensed firearms to a police station, where they were destroyed without compensation.

“If you drop it off at a police station, it’s generally scrapped – but if you have a gun that could be worth thousands of dollars, I might be able to buy it from them,” he said.

“Often they’ve got firearms that were their father’s or their father’s father and they’ve never been registered.

“I wanted to help get them off the streets and to stop them getting into the hands of criminal elements.”

Gun owners who were unlicensed can also have a licensed dealer hold their weapons for them until they have the required permits.

In recent weeks, Gold Coast police have investigated reports of gunshots at Pacific Pines, the shooting of a man at Coolangatta, and two instances where men in their 30s presented to hospital with gunshot wounds.

Regional Crime Coordinator Detective Superintendent Kerry Johnson said the seriousness of gun crimes meant the investigations were a top priority.

“Any violence-related crime where people are hurt or there’s that threat of violence, we treat it with the highest level of commitment,” he said. “It is not acceptable in our society.”

For more information, call 1800 909 826.