Nearly 60,000 illegal firearms have been taken off the streets as part of Australia's first ever national firearms amnesty.

Nearly 60,000 illegal firearms have been taken off the streets as part of Australia's first ever national firearms amnesty. The National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report released by the Department of Home Affairs, reveals nearly 2500 fully and semiautomatic weapons have been recovered from across Australia. Minister for Law Enforcement Angus Taylor has told the ABC it's a great outcome.

A security official holds an armalite rifle similar to the one used in the Port Arthur massacre, handed in for scrap in the gun amnesty Source: Getty Images