Number of guns stolen in Australia more than doubles in 7 years

The number of firearm thefts in Australia has more than doubled in the past seven years.

Data released by Gun Control Australia on Wednesday revealed that 3,507 guns were stolen in Australia in the financial year ending in 2015, more than doubling the 1,712 stolen in 2007/2008.

The figures for 2015 also marked a significant increase from financial year 2013/14 when 2,944 guns were stolen nationwide, prompting fears from authorities that the guns are being sold in the illegal firearms market.

The 1,451 guns stolen in Victoria alone between 2013 and 2015 were almost more than those stolen in the entire country in 2008.

Sam Lee, head of Gun Control Australia, said that the "alarming" figures showed that governments were not doing enough to crack down on the illegal firearm trade.

"With a record number of gun thefts, it is clear governments have seriously been neglecting the alarming rate at which guns are being stolen from private homes and the flow of these guns into the illicit gun market," Lee said.

Most of the 1,406 firearms stolen in New South Wales (NSW) between 2013 and 2015 were either category A weapons such as hunting rifles or category B weapons such as general hunting shotguns.

Category A and B weapons typically sell for between 150 and 225 U.S. dollars each in the illegal trade but higher end handguns can sell for up to 22,500 U.S. dollars.

Western Australia had the biggest growth in firearm thefts in the two-year period with the 423 guns stolen in 2014, and more than doubling to 899 guns stolen in 2015. Endit