CANBERRA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australians have surrendered 25,999 guns and weapons so far in the National Firearm Amnesty, a result which has been labelled a major success by Justice Minister Michael Keenan.
At a press conference in Melbourne on Friday, Keenan said he was delighted by Australia's response to the amnesty, which was introduced by the federal government on July 1, and urged Australians to make the most of the remaining three weeks to hand in unwanted and unregistered guns.
"This is a great result, and shows Australians are serious about protecting themselves, their families, and their communities," Keenan said on Friday.
"There are now only three weeks remaining to hand in firearms under the Amnesty, and I encourage Australians to continue to take advantage of the Amnesty period to help remove unregistered firearms from the community.
"As we know, just one firearm in the wrong hands can be deadly."
The National Firearm Amnesty commenced nine weeks ago and was the first nationwide gun amnesty since 1996 when the John Howard Government took definitive action following the backlash from the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, when 35 people were killed by crazed gunman Martin Bryant.
The amnesty period gives Australians the opportunity to legally dispose of any unwanted or unregistered firearms at approved drop-off points throughout each state and territory.
Keenan warned that any person found in possession of an unregistered firearm beyond the three-month reprieve period would be punished.
"Outside of the amnesty period, anyone caught with an unregistered firearm could face a fine of up to 280,000 AU dollars (224,000 U.S. dollars), up to 14 years in jail, and a criminal record," he said on Friday.
Keenan said there had been several rare weapons given up by Australians throughout the past two months.
"Among the more unusual firearms handed in under the amnesty have been a Beaumont Adams revolver circa 1856, a WWI era Lee Enfield rifle and two WWII US M1 carbines," he said.
New South Wales residents have handed in more than 13,000 firearms so far, by far the most of any Australian state, while Victoria has relinquished a little over 2,000.
