As the national firearms amnesty reaches its halfway point, gun policy experts warn a different approach entirely is needed to prevent unnecessary gun deaths in Australia.

A three-year-old girl was shot in the neck with an unregistered sawn-off shotgun at her mother's home in the western Sydney suburb of Lalor Park on Sunday evening.

The girl's father has been charged with possessing an illegal firearm, as well as breaching an apprehended violence order.

But the incident has refocused attention on how gun control laws might have better helped prevent the shooting in the first place.

Professor Philip Alpers, a gun control advocate at the University of Sydney, said the firearms amnesty will not have any significant effect on the rate of gun violence in Australia.

"All the research studies show that very limited, unenforced amnesties like this one produce no measurable decrease in violent crime. You can't prove they reduce death or injury," Professor Alpers said.

"But gun amnesties are popular right around the world. They are the politician's favourite feel-good gesture and they generate really useful media images of guns being destroyed."

A review into the Martin Place siege recommended fast-tracking a national firearms database. ( ABC News: Andrew Kennedy )

There is no way of knowing how many illegal firearms there might be in Australian cities, although the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimates 260,000 nationwide.

Professor Alpers said the problem lies more in the way licensed firearms are able to circulate in Australia.

"These firearms, just like the sawn-off weapon that was used in the Lindt Cafe shooting, were lawfully imported by a licensed gun owner. But at some stage they got loose," he said.

Australia could learn from the US: expert

Crime Stoppers NSW chief executive Peter Price said more than 6,400 guns had been handed in in his state as of August 7, with a total of more than 11,000 nationwide.

"Any illegal weapon, even if it's one, that we take off the street is worthwhile," Mr Price said.

"Basically the fewer firearms that are on the marketplace that are not being used for official purposes, probably the better."

But gun violence experts like Samara McPhedran from Griffith University in Queensland argue Australia could take lessons on gun control from, ironically, the United States.

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Dr McPhedran said Australia's system of gun registration and periodic amnesties has done well enough, but there are things the federal and state governments could improve.

"[Australia could learn from] Canada, various parts of Europe, the UK and believe or not the US," she said.

"Things like a very focused approach particularly on disrupting criminal activity, and holding offenders to account. But also looking at communities where gun violence disproportionately occurs."

Dr McPhedran said in some parts of the US, the number of homicides has been cut in half thanks in part to better cooperation with local community leaders.

"We see responses that bring together police, justice, health services, educators, and perhaps most importantly community leaders."