500 knives handed back in South Australia's three-month amesty

Hundreds of illegal weapons have been surrendered in the first fortnight of South Australia’s knife amnesty. Police say time is ticking to hand them over anonymously with many more prohibited swords and machetes still in the wrong hands.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Off the streets and out of harm's way. These are
just some of the weapons confiscated by police since the
nation's toughest knife laws came into effect.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Every single sword, every single machete that is not out
in the public is one for your opportunity for a
crime to be committed.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
In the past fortnight, almost one hundred and forty swords,
more than two hundred and thirty machetes, and another one
hundred and fifteen dangerous weapons have been surrendered.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
No nearly five hundred number is certainly pleasing, but it
is obviously there are more in the community.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
The crackdown is in response to an alarming increase in
knife crime laws, including this shocking incident in Rundel Mall
last year.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
These laws were bought in this year to make South
Australians safer.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
But whether that message is cutting through remains to be seen.
On Friday, officers arrested five young males carrying machetes and
an imitation firearm here at South Brighton. The group is
among the first to face tough new penalties, including up
to two years prison.

Speaker 4 (01:06):
This is exactly why these laws were brought into place,
so that we can have the powers to be able
to first of all, search and locate and remove them
from the community, but second of we'll hold.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Them to account.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
South Australians have until the thirtieth of September to hand
them over, no questions asked Jasmin Turling's seven News