Figures from the Greens-backed website www.toomanyguns.org revealed there are more than 12,000 registered guns in the area, belonging to 2,445 licensed owners.

Online commentary on the story was largely against the website, with many readers declaring it was attacking law-abiding citizens who do the right thing with their weapons, which they have for either vermin eradication or sporting purposes.

Orana Local Area Command investigations manager, Detective Sergeant Mark Meredith, said levels of gun crime in the region are minimal, bur reiterated the need for licence holders to correctly store their weapons.

“The biggest problem we find isn’t necessarily that there’s 12,000 registered guns around Dubbo, it’s that sometimes some of those guns get stolen,” he said.

“In our area gun theft far outweighs crimes where guns are actually involved, and a lot of the time it is opportunistic on behalf of the criminals that take them.

“The vast majority of licensed gun owners do the right thing with the security and storage of their firearms, but it is something that we can never get complacent about.

“This website is publicising the fact that there are all these firearms around the place, and that will probably get some crooks interested.

“But if the weapons are safely locked away and stored then it makes it hard for them to fall in to the wrong hands.

“It’s the same as having things stolen from inside your home or car. If they’re obvious to the crims they will take them, so we encourage people to lock them away.

“And if you are going away for an extended period, leave them at a licensed gun shop where they can be looked after.”

With the Orana area being light on for actual gun crime, Det Sgt Meredith said it is fair to assume that the bulk of firearms stolen from around the region make their way to other locations to be sold on either the black or grey markets.

And he warned that the on-selling of the weapons can create a circle of crime if it isn’t nipped in the bud early.

“Everything has a price,” he said.

“Whether it’s your phone, your iPad, your pushbike, your jewellery, or in this case your guns.

“So people are moving these things on, and then maybe using the money to go and buy drugs or other things.

“Then they run out of money, and unfortunately it can start all over again.”