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The number of people with firearms in some Illawarra suburbs has climbed almost 40per cent since 2010, amid revelations there is now one registered gun for every nine people across the state.
Thousands of firearms are registered in the region, with the 2530 postcode – which includes Dapto, Kanahooka and Marshall Mount – topping the list.
The Illawarra’s biggest spike in gun ownership between 2010 and 2015 was evident elsewhere, with the 2529 postcode (Oak Flats, Shell Cove and Shellharbour) and 2508 (Helensburgh, Otford and Stanwell Park) both recording a 38.7per cent jump.
Somewhat surprisingly, the number of firearm owners in the 2517 postcode (Russell Vale and Woonona) rose 38per cent, while Wollongong also recorded a spike.
A Fairfax Media investigation – which used NSW Police and 2011 census data – revealed registered guns outnumber people in 22 of the state’s 600 postcodes, including four areas where the ratio is two to one. Firearms-per-person averages are on the lower-end of the scale across the Illawarra.
More than 850,000 firearms are now legally registered in NSW, which Greens MP and Justice spokesman David Shoebridge said the community safety gains made since the Howard gun buyback had been lost.
‘‘What we are seeing is a continuous build-up of firearms in the community so that we now have one gun for every nine residents in NSW,’’ he said.
‘‘To protect community safety it is well and truly time we turned this around and started reducing the number of firearms in circulation.’’