Northern Territory Police have taken 75 firearms off the streets as part of a national operation last week.

Operation Athena is an Australia/New Zealand week of action targeting illicit firearms.

There are two national weeks of action scheduled for 2021. The first week ran from Monday 15 March until Sunday 20 March 2021.

 During the Operation Northern Territory Police achieved:

• 1 x Warrant Execution
• 75 x Firearms Seized
• 3 x Pistols Seized
• 82 x Firearm SAFER validation seized/inspected firearms
• 15 x Sect 99A Firearms Act notice served (firearms seized due to owner’s licence being suspended or revoked)
• 4 x Sect 96A Firearms Act notice served (request for owner to produce firearm/s to police for inspection)
• 4 x Sect 42 Firearms Act notice served (suspension of licence, permit or certificate of registration)
• 1 x Firearm Prohibition Order (FPO) served
• 3 x  Interstate Notifications
• 2 x Corporate License Revocation orders issued
• 1 x Shooters license refusal
• 1 x Shooters license revocation order served
• 1 x Prohibited Weapon seized (Extendable Bat)

More than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were also seized.

Superintendent Shaun Gill has said, “The really important thing that comes out of Operation Athena is that people are entitled to own firearms, however, there are strict requirements. They need proper storage, licensing and an extensive criminal history check. While the operation has finished, that won’t stop NT Police from continuing to check firearm ownership in the Territory”.