Australia gun crackdown needed as thefts of firearms soar, think-tank says

SYDNEY – Thefts of Australia’s millions of registered firearms have become the country’s biggest source of illegally held guns, underscoring a need to limit ownership in the wake of

the shooting at Bondi Beach on Dec 14

, according to a think-tank.

At least 44,600 legally owned firearms have been stolen in the past 20 years, the equivalent of one every four hours, adding to the pool available to criminals, the Australia Institute said in a September report.

Police have confirmed that the guns used during the Bondi massacre had been legally held.

Still, governments need to focus on measures to reduce the volume of weapons in circulation, said Mr Rod Campbell, one of the report’s authors.

The 50-year-old man police identified as

one of the shooters at the Bondi massacre

, who was confirmed dead, was licensed to own six “long arms” weapons, and held a firearm permit for a decade, police said.

“Community safety is improved by having fewer guns,” Mr Campbell said in an interview on Dec 16. “The fewer guns there are in the community, the fewer that can be stolen by criminals.”

There are now more than four million registered, privately owned firearms in Australia, the institute estimates.

That is more than before a gun law overhaul in 1996 following the massacre of 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania.

Data indicates police recover only about one quarter of stolen guns, according to the think-tank’s report, which adds to a pool of black-market weaponry available to criminals.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has previously said there may be 200,000 illicit firearms in the country, based on a conservative estimate.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is already exploring tighter controls after gunmen killed 15 people at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration on Dec 14.

Options include limits on the number of firearms an individual can hold, stricter rules on permitted gun types and a requirement that licence holders be Australian citizens.

Mr Albanese said on Dec 16 he is also considering accelerating the creation of a National Firearms Register. BLOOMBERG