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Tougher penalties for gun-trafficking to be re-introduced into Australian parliament

Xinhua, March 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Australian government will re-introduce legislation on Thursday to sentence firearms traffickers to a mandatory five-year jail term.

Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said in a press statement on Thursday the legislation reflected a commitment by the government to implement measures suggested in the Sydney siege review.

"It is this government's strongly held view that now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to ensure the safety of all Australians -- critical to this is stopping the trade of illicit firearms," Keenan said.

"Mandatory minimum sentences send a strong message that gun- related crime and violence will not be tolerated."

"These measures also reflect the Australian government's commitment to act quickly to implement the firearms-related recommendations from the Joint Commonwealth-New South Wales Review into the Martin Place Siege."

Under the laws, tougher penalties would apply for gun-related crime including the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences of five years' imprisonment for offenders charged with trafficking firearms or firearm parts.

The legislation was rejected by the Senate in February with the opposition citing an opposition to mandatory sentences.

Keenan said Labor supported mandatory sentencing in 2010 when in government and should back the latest gun trafficking legislation.

The opposition responded to similar calls earlier in the week by saying heavy penalties already applied to firearms trafficking.

"There is no evidence that mandatory minimum sentences work as a deterrent," Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told Australian Associated Press on Monday.

There are more than 250,000 illegal firearms in Australia. An estimated 14,000 firearms "disappear" from registers each year, according to a 2013 parliamentary document.

The government said it would update the technical elements of the National Firearms Agreement to simplify the regulation of the legal firearms market.

It will also introduce a National Firearms Interface that will improve the ability of law enforcement to track firearms across the country. Endi