SYDNEY, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Monday that there is potentially up to 1 million illegal or unwanted firearms on the streets ahead of a nationwide amnesty set to begin on Saturday.
Authorities are encouraging citizens to surrender their weapons as part of the three-month plan, with the promise of no penalties, for the first time since a similar scheme was held following the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996.
Jeff Loy, deputy commissioner at the NSW Police, said to local media that his units had seized over 13,000 firearms over the past year, and returned only 4,800 of the weapons taken back to their owners.
"We believe there's anything up to about 1 million firearms in NSW," Loy said.
"The amount of firearms is quite incredible, but in the main they're held in safe keeping and dealt with by sensible people."
The new amnesty was brought in following the review of the Lindt Cafe siege in 2014, according to the NSW Minister for Police Troy Grant, who told Xinhua on Monday that this was a "key outcome" of the joint state and federal review into the terrorist attack.
"It is designed to encourage people with an unregistered firearm to surrender it, register it and/or get a licence for it," Grant said.
"In NSW, we have an extremely robust regime, and this amnesty will ensure fewer firearms exist outside of this regime."
There will also be the option to surrender firearm parts, ammunition, and frames at selected drop-off sites throughout the country, with owners also having the option to register their unlicensed weapons at their own cost, as part of the scheme.
