Australia's Queensland police seize more than 200 guns monthly
Xinhua, September 30, 2016 Adjust font size:
More than 200 guns are being seized each month in Australia's sunshine state Queensland, police statistics show.
Local media reported on Friday that the firearms have been netted in police operations targeting criminals and expired licences, the number of seizures in the state rising by nearly 70 percent since 2010.
Queensland Police seized 3,057 firearms in 2015 and a further 610 in the first three months of this year.
In 2010, 1822 guns were seized.
The figures do not include firearms voluntarily handed into police which will be the aim of a gun amnesty being negotiated by the federal government and the states.
More than 19,000 weapons were surrendered to police during a three-month gun amnesty in Queensland in 2013.
But firearms policy researcher Samara McPhedran, of Griffith University, said it was important to be realistic about what amnesties achieved as those who handed in their weapons weren't likely to engage in gun violence.
"While it sounds like a cliche it's true to say criminals don't hand in their guns," she said. Enditem