Over 17,000 weapons surrendered in year of Australian gun amnesty
CANBERRA, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 17,000 weapons were surrendered in the first year of Australia's permanent national firearms amnesty.
The federal government on Saturday released the first annual report on the amnesty program, which allows Australians to hand in unregistered, illegal or unwanted weapons without facing punishment, revealing 17,543 weapons were surrendered in the first 12 months.
The permanent amnesty was set up in mid-2021 following temporary programs in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 and again in 2017.