Michael Keenan
Australian authorities announced a future weapons Amnesty in order to prevent terrorist attacks. About it reports Reuters.
According to Australian Minister of justice Michael Keenan, from July 1, any person residing in the country, will be able to surrender to the authorities available to him at the hands of illegal arms and to bear the punishment for possession.
“We live in times when our national security is falling, — explained the Minister. — Unfortunately, we personally had to verify this on the example of terrorist attacks in Australia, which used an illegal weapon”.
Weapons Amnesty is introduced for the first time in two decades and will last for three months. It was originally planned that the Amnesty will be in effect throughout 2017.
Australia has experienced several terrorist acts with the use of illegal weapons. It was used by the gunman took hostage visitors cafe in Sydney in 2014. In June 2017 Thriller Jakub hare in Melbourne killed a man and took a woman hostage, declaring that acts on behalf of the “Islamic state” (IG, is prohibited in Russia). After its liquidation it was discovered that his weapon was not reported to the police.
According to estimates by the guards, now in the hands of Australians are illegally about 260 thousand units of firearms. While Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world: the country banned semi-automatic rifles and pump action shotguns, the issuance of licenses to possess firearms is fraught with significant difficulties.