Crime Commission to target illegal guns

At one point this summer, a day didn't go by where a house in Sydney wasn't sprayed with bullets.

Since January 1, there have been 20 shootings.

And at last count, there were 61 shootings in the past 10 months.

The alarming figures in NSW and elsewhere have prompted federal Justice Minister Jason Clare to have the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) target the Australian black market in guns.

The ACC will begin a national intelligence assessment on the illegal firearms market.

The assessment will include tracing the guns linked to the most recent shootings in western Sydney and Adelaide and providing a national picture of the black market and criminal gangs.

Mr Clare said what has been occurring across Sydney is extremely serious.

"There is a very real risk that someone spraying bullets at a house will kill an innocent person," Mr Clare told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"We'll now be conducting tracing analysis from all of the shootings that have occurred in Australia over the last 12 months.

"We'll also be looking at all of the weapons that have been seized over the last 12 months.

"We're going to use modern technology and coercive powers to identify criminals and make it easier to catch them."

The assessment would involve harnessing information from the United States' online firearm-tracing system E-Trace.

E-Trace helps trace the history of illicit firearms and identify points of origin.

NSW Police Minister Michael Gallacher said his state was not an island and its borders could not be protected from gangs.

"There does need to be a national understanding of how the firearms are moving through the nation," Mr Gallacher said.

"Criminals don't recognise the boundaries. We need to be able to operate at a national level."

SA Police Commissioner Mal Hyde welcomed the assessment.

"The use of illegal firearms in the commission of crime is a perennial problem for all policing jurisdictions across Australia," Mr Hyde said.

"Firearms in the hands of people involved in organised crime, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, is a concern."

ACC commissioner John Lawler said 1500 firearms were seized annually.

The assessment would focus on handguns, he said.

"They've been a predominant weapon with organised criminals because of their concealable nature and that's one of the specific focuses for the national assessment."

The ACC would work with the Australian Federal Police, state and territory police and Customs and Border Protection.

The preliminary results would be presented to the Standing Council on Law and Justice in April.

The final report and recommendations would be presented to the national meeting of police ministers in July.