THE South Australian Police firearms branch is investigating the recent theft of six firearms from a Clay Wells Road property.
The property owners returned from holidays and realised the firearms were stolen and notified local police.
Limestone Coast Police officer in charge Superintendent Phil Hoff said the branch had not been able to ascertain when the firearms were stolen due to the time frame the property owners had been on holiday.
“Investigations are continuing,” Supt Hoff said.
The incident comes as the firearms branch announced they will be writing to licensed firearms owners as part of an audit process while transferring data to a new computer system.
The upgrade of the record keeping database, called the Firearms Control System is under way, with the state system to ultimately interface with the national Australian Firearms Information Network.
Firearms Branch officer in charge Superintendent Stephen Howard said integration with the Australian Firearms Information Network would help police and other law enforcement agencies manage the registration, licensing and movement of firearms coming into Australia and moving between the states and territories.
“The new system that is being proposed to replace SAPOL’s current Firearms Control System requires accurate information, as this will provide a sound foundation that will offer dividends in terms of officer and public safety, will allow access to both state and national firearms data in real time and will deliver a better service to licence holders by decreasing turnaround times for license applications, renewals and registrations,” he said.
“Firearm possession and use is a privilege that is conditional on the overriding need to ensure public safety.
“The new system will achieve this by interfacing with other SAPOL systems and Australian Firearms Information Network.”
