Firearm theft in Australia 2018
This Statistical Report Firearm theft in Australia 2018 was commissioned by Operation Athena to examine recent patterns of firearm theft.
- There were 847 incidents of firearm theft in which 2,425 firearms were reported stolen between 1 January and 31 December 2018. This represents a 15 percent increase in reported incidents and 35 percent increase in reported stolen firearms compared with 2008–09.
- An average of 202 firearms were reported stolen each month. Most thefts (n=508, 60%) were multiple firearm theft incidents.
- Most stolen firearms were Category A and B firearms. Category C (n=29) and Category D (n=8) firearms made up no more than one percent of stolen firearms and Category H firearms made up four percent (n=99).
- Almost all incidents targeted residential premises (n=684, 81%). Fifty-eight percent (n=1,402) of firearms were stolen from the dwelling and 24 percent (n=580) from a garage, shed or outbuilding adjacent to the dwelling.
- The largest proportion of theft incidents occurred in inner regional (n=244, 30%) and outer regional (n=250, 31%) areas. This represents a shift in the last decade from major cities as the primary site of firearm theft.
- Stolen firearms had been secured in a firearm safe or similar approved receptacle in 73 percent (n=425) of incidents where data were available. This is an increase from the 60 percent storage compliance recorded in the previous decade.
This paper is available for free download on the AIC website: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sr/sr24
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