Australia announces national gun amnesty

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionIt is estimated that there are as many as 260,000 illicit guns in Australia

Australia is bringing in its first national gun amnesty since 1996 because of the growing terrorism threat and an influx of illegal arms in the country.

During the three-month amnesty running from 1 July, people can hand in unregistered weapons without the fear of prosecution, the government says.

Those caught outside that period face fines of up to A$280,000 ($212,730; £166,480) or up to 14 years in prison.

It is estimated that there are as many as 260,000 illicit guns in Australia.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan is expected to announce further details of the government initiative later on Friday.

"We are living in a time when our national security environment has deteriorated," he said earlier.

"Unfortunately, we have seen, through terror attacks in Australia, that illegal guns have been used.

"We believe... now is the time to run another amnesty, with the aim of reducing this pool of illegal guns," the minister said.

Australia brought in a similar amnesty deal after the 1996 shootings in Port Arthur.

Attacker Martin Bryant killed 35 people in the historic tourist town in Tasmania - the worst mass shooting in Australia's history.

In recent years the authorities have been expressing growing concern over the threat of possible terrorist attacks in the country.

Last month, they said they were treating as a "terrorist incident" a siege in Melbourne in which a gunman was killed.

In 2014, a 16-hour hostage situation in a Sydney cafe ended with three people dead, including the gunman hostage-taker.