HONEY, I COOKED THE GUN

[AussieMark]

Honey, I cooked the gun

POLICE have "lost" at least nine handguns in recent years – including three from police gun safes and armouries – and two more have been accidentally "baked" by their partners.

Official documents, obtained under Freedom of Information, show lax security has almost certainly put police firearms into criminal hands, embarrassing the State Government as it seeks to stop the illegal gun trade.

Police sources have told The Daily Telegraph that on at least two occasions, it is understood Glocks have been cooked in ovens after off-duty officers followed instructions to dismantle the weapons and keep them hidden.

The officers' partners have the apparently used the ovens not knowing the guns were hidden inside.

It is also understood officers who take their guns home are required to keep them secured in a safe complying with firearms storage regulations.

The police force does not provide safes for officers' homes.

It is understood the issue of installing safes in police vehicles – a proposal which has considerable support among police – had been canvassed over the past several years.

However, it was rejected as safes in police cars would not comply with present firearms storage legislation.

Police Minister John Watkins has imposed costly new gun storage regulations on private security firms, which he described last year as "soft targets" for thieves.

But an investigation by The Daily Telegraph reveals at least nine guns – mostly Glocks – have gone missing, in two cases temporarily.

Police claimed no report or figures could be provided to give an exact number of missing weapons – nor would police provide information in response to further inquiries.

Separate sources indicated the number of vanished weapons could be larger.

In one undated report, Special Crime and Internal Affairs stated they were aware of one revolver and six Glocks being misplaced in the past five years, including one stolen or lost last year.

A separate police document, dated March 2002, stated up to seven Glocks were lost or stolen in recent years, although it is unclear how many of those were accounted for in the first document.

Incidents of guns going missing include:

<LI>TWO Glocks taken from the gun safe at Newtown police station some time between May 31 and June 9, 2000;</LI>

<LI>A GLOCK vanishing from the police armoury library on April 29, 2000; and</LI>

<LI>A GLOCK used by a witness security officer going missing from his police car parked on Crown St, Wollongong, on May 23, 2000. The weapon was later found.</LI>

The Security and Allied Industries Association said it was fair to expect police and security companies to protect their weapons.

Secretary Jim Larkey said the missing guns proved police themselves could do a lot more to improve security.

"It's appropriate for the Carr Government to look after its own house before lecturing others in the community," Mr Larkey said.

Opposition police spokesman Peter Debnam attacked Mr Watkins for his "hypocrisy" over police gun security.

"He's made the security firms the whipping boy on the illegal gun trade, but the problem is bigger than that," Mr Debnam said.

Mr Debnam said the State Government appeared unconcerned that the courts were often awarding only fines against people caught with illegal firearms.