Gun owners are risking their own community’s safety when their firearms are not stored securely.
Four of seven firearms seized in an arrest in Kialla last month were allegedly stolen during a prior burglary at Murchison, the other three allegedly via the same means from Moama.
Police are reminding firearms owners to store their guns securely in approved safes with the grace period for new compliance requirements introduced in 2022 well and truly over.
Senior Sergeant Heidi Twining from the Eastern Division 3 proactive police unit — which covers Murrundindi, Benalla, Shepparton, Strathbogie and Mitchell shire areas — said 318 firearms were stolen in Victoria last year, with regional communities being the hardest hit.
The division has the second-highest registered gun ownership in Victoria (after Western Division 5), with 53,000 firearms listed.
“For us, it’s obviously of a high-level importance,” Snr Sgt Twining said.
“We’ve been tasking specialist units when they come into our area to assist with getting more of those firearms inspections done out this way as well, because there is such a significant number of them.”
Victoria Police has registered Divisional Firearms Officers whose roles are specifically to deal with firearms matters full-time, however, uniformed officers are also tasked with regularly carrying out regular random inspections.
“We don’t want to fine and prosecute people, but we do want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, so we want to encourage people to store them properly just to minimise that,” Snr Sgt Twining said.
“We don’t want to take guns away from farmers who need them for their livelihood.
“What we’re finding is, overwhelmingly, the majority of firearms owners do the right thing, but unfortunately when firearms aren’t stored correctly, they are more vulnerable and susceptible to being stolen.”
While no figure is available for the number of firearms stolen in the state this year yet, The News understands several have been recovered during arrests in the Goulburn Valley in the past few weeks alone.
“We have cancelled a number of firearms licences this year due to poor firearms storage,” Snr Sgt Twining said.
“When they do get stolen from properties where they aren’t stored properly, unfortunately sometimes it is the criminal world that gets a hold of them and they are later used in serious crime, which is a risk to the community.”
Divisional Firearms Officer Leading Senior Constable Chris Cummins said penalties for incorrectly storing firearms included licence suspension, followed by briefing, court and most likely loss of licence for at least 12 months, and a $750 to $1000 fine from a magistrate.
For those who are not registered to possess firearms but still have them after their licences expired or are suspended, or through deceased estates of relatives, there is an ongoing amnesty in place across Australia where firearms can be surrendered to licensed dealers or police with no questions asked.
Leading Snr Constable Cummins said the majority of registered firearms in his division belonged to farmers.
“Because they treat them as a tool, they don’t always see them as a need to be locked up; it’s a tool that they use every day that they carry in the ute to put down an injured animal,” he said.
“But the message is to lock it and leave it.”
He said the amount they were still finding stored incorrectly was unacceptable.
“The old school lockers, the old timber lockers, two years ago we upgraded to purpose-built safes (required to comply to safety standards) and we still find two to three a week stored in the old lockers. And some don’t have storage whatsoever,” Leading Snr Constable Cummins said.
“But there’s been a vast improvement in the last two years because of the implementation of the purpose-built gun safes.”
The gun safety course teaches firearms licence applicants about storage requirements.
Their first firearm purchase will generate a firearm inspection request.
Leading Snr Constable Cummins said that put new licence holders at the top of their lists for compliance inspections.
“Be mindful that the DFOs (Divisional Firearms Officers) and local uniformed members do conduct regular random inspections of your firearms storage and firearms,” Snr Sgt Twining said.
“The community can rest assured that police will continue to do everything possible to reduce the impact of illicit firearms in the community.”
Police also discouraged people from promoting that they were shooters with things like hunting brand stickers on their cars to avoid becoming a target for firearms thieves.
They also want to remind hunters that there are also compliance laws for securing weapons in vehicles when away from the primary residence the gun is registered to.
“It’s a proactive approach,” Snr Sgt Twining said.
“It’s easier to retain something than to relocate it later on.”