Victoria Police has admitted it cannot account for close to 200 firearms.

An audit has found that out of more than 10,000 firearms on record, 186 can not be physically located.

Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe says he is confident the firearms have not ended up in the community.

He is blaming the problem on police record-keeping.

"I'm more confident from the advice I've been given that the probability is that these firearms have been marked for destruction [or] have been destroyed," he said.

"But unfortunately, our record-keeping has been poor and we haven't been able to reconcile the destruction on the databases."

Deputy Commissioner Walshe says there has been no indication of inappropriate behaviour by any police member.

He says robust recording practices are being put in place in preparation for the roll-out of 12,000 new semi-automatic weapons.

"We will have them barcoded. Every individual member who's issued with a firearm will be held accountable and responsible to manage and store and keep safe that particular firearm," he said.

"We actually wanted to get to the point of having a very clear position so that we know where we are in moving forward."