Farewell to weapons

By Kelly Yates
POLICE are predicting Casey residents will hand over guns, machetes, knifes, knuckle dusters and swords as part of this month’s firearms and weapons amnesty.
Senior Sergeant Gerry Hengel from the Narre Warren police station said police were preparing to clean up Casey streets as part of the amnesty, which is set to tackle the growing knife and weapon culture.
The state-wide firearms and weapons amnesty will run until 31 October.
A Cranbourne man was charged this week with possessing a hand gun after shots were fired in Cranbourne in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Police said the 32-year-old was charged after being involved in an altercation on Waterside Drive at 1am on 3 October.
Detective Senior Constable Ed Keon-Cohen said police also charged the man with assault and reckless conduct endangering persons.
In previous years, according to Sen Sgt Hengel, the Narre Warren police station had been inundated with people handing over weapons during the amnesties.
“The Casey community should surrender unwanted or illegal firearms and weapons to the station without any repercussions, such as charges and criminal records,” Sen Sgt Hengel said.
Parents and young people are the focus of this year’s amnesty in a bid to combat the growing trend of using weapons in assaults and robberies.
Although the total number of robberies is decreasing, latest figures show a significant increase in offenders aged between 10 and 19 years using knives during robberies, while assaults using knives increased among the 15 to 24 age group.
According to police, there has been a 9.4 per cent rise in knife armed robberies over the past 12 months, with almost 40 per cent of robbery offences involving the use of weapons.
Deputy Commissioner Ken Jones said the increasing issue of knife and weapon crime was of great concern to police.
“People want to go out without facing the prospect of being robbed or attacked with a knife,” Mr Jones said.
“Sadly, some of the weapons and knives used in these street attacks come from kitchen drawers at home. The control of that type of behaviour starts there,” he said.
The 2008 amnesty haul resulted in the surrender of 2428 firearms and assorted weapons, which included two historic pistols from the 1840s, an anti-tank rifle from World War II, and hundreds of knives, swords, axes, bayonets, machetes, imitation firearms, cross bows, throwing stars and nun chucks.
Mr Jones said by acting early and giving people an opportunity to hand in weapons of this nature, police could safely remove them from the state’s streets and minimise any potential use.
“These are not weapons we want, or should have, on the street. We are giving people fair warning and allowing them to make an educated choice to hand in any weapons for the benefit of the whole community,” he said.
All weapons must be wrapped in paper, plastic or cloth prior to disposal to ensure the process is as safe as possible.
People should ensure that firearms are not loaded when they attend the police station and they are also encouraged to ring their local police station before taking the items in.