AKIPRESS.COM - Australians turned in more than 57,000 firearms to authorities last year during a national gun amnesty, BBC reported.

The three-month amnesty was the first since Australia's landmark response to a mass shooting in 1996.

It aimed to reduce the number of illicit weapons by allowing people to hand them over without fear of prosecution.

The government said the amnesty deal had made the nation safer.

"Taking these unregistered firearms off the streets means they will not fall into the hands of criminals, who might use them to endanger the lives of innocent Australians," Law Enforcement Minister Angus Taylor said on Thursday.

It is illegal to own an unregistered firearm in Australia. Offenders face fines of up to A$280,000 (£172,000;$225,000) and up to 14 years in jail.