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Australian Illegal Gun Sales

Huge trade in illegal handguns
By FRANCES O'SHEA
05apr02

KNOW the right person, have the right cash and you can buy an illegal handgun in suburban Sydney in less than an hour. At a certain hotel in the city's west, three separate locations around Cabramatta, another business in Bankstown and on the streets of Kings Cross hundreds of handguns are bought and sold daily.

For about $2000, a person can readily buy a gun like the .38 calibre Smith and Wesson allegedly used in the shooting of Constable Glenn McEnallay.

Police appear to be fighting a losing battle to control the number of firearms on our streets and admit that in some suburbs guns are easier to buy than a mobile phone.

"It seems like they've all got guns," an officer involved in the drug agency said yesterday.

"There are whole gangs of young people wandering around the streets and each of them has a gun.

"If they're dealing in drugs, and so many of them are, then they arm themself with a gun for protection.

"Only last week we raided a home looking for drugs and all six people in the house had a gun. They weren't master criminals but each one had a gun for protection."

In its first year of operation the NSW Firearms Trafficking unit identified 32 people selling more than 400 guns and other weapons.

Their intelligence suggested many of the guns had flooded into Sydney from Queensland and Victoria.

According to police, the average illegal handgun user is male, aged in his late teens to early 20s and linked to a criminal gang, usually involved in the drug trade.

Superintendent Helen Begg, chief of the Firearms Trafficking unit said: "Our main concern is handguns; they are the weapons criminals want, they are easily concealable. You don't walk down the street with an SKK [assault rifle] down you pants. They [gangs] just want a small gun they can conceal easily."

Depending on their calibre and condition illegal handguns can be bought from $1500 to $5000.

Some of the most popular black market handguns on the street include 9mm Glock semi-automatics, .357 Magnum revolvers and .38 Smith and Wesson.

Ex-US army weapons like .45 calibre Cold semi-automatics used in World War 11 have also surfaced on Sydney streets in recent months.

A convicted killer who spoke to The Daily Telegraph yesterday said guns had never been more readily available.

"It's a huge business. There are plenty of guns for sale if you have the cash and know where to go.

"I could go to a certain pub in Sydney and I'd have a handgun within a quarter of an hour. The bikies have always got a supply and all the young kids in gangs have got them.

"The average price is around $2000 and for that you can get a .357 Magnum blue coat or $3000 in stainless steel.

"And you can buy them in the 100s. There are that many guns around.

"It's a huge business. Since the gun laws came in handguns are a one of the biggest assets.

"Everyone wants one and there is plenty of money to be made from selling them."

© Mirror Australian Telegraph Publications

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