More than 57,000 illegal firearms have been handed in during Australia’s first national gun amnesty since Port Arthur.

Almost 2,500 of guns handed in across the country were fully-automatic and semi-automatic firearms, according to the report into the amnesty released today.

The National Firearms Amnesty ran from 1 July to 30 September 2017, with an average of 630 firearms handed in per day.

The Amnesty allowed individuals to register items, sell items (to a licensed firearms dealer) or have items destroyed.

Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Angus Taylor told nine.com.au that the result was “beyond our expectations”.

“It was a very good result – 57,000 firearms handed in, nearly 2,500 of those were semi-automatic or automatic,” he said.

Mr Taylor said it is a positive that such a huge number of weapons had been pulled out of the “grey market” - guns that are not registered or necessarily held for criminal intent but that can end up in the hands of criminals.

“That’s what we saw in the Lindt café siege,” he said.

“A grey market gun ended up in the hands of Man Monis.”

The Lindt Cafe shooter and two of his hostages were killed when police stormed the Sydney cafe in December 2014.

A Norinco SKK semi-automatic rifle was handed in in Tasmania (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

New South Wales saw the greatest number of firearms handed in, with 24,831 surrendered.

Queensland handed in 16,375 firearms while Victoria and South Australia handed in 9,175 and 2,825 respectively.

A rocket launcher was handed in in Queensland (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

In Tasmania, where the Port Arthur massacre sparked massive gun reform in Australia, 1,830 weapons were handed over.

During the gun amnesty after the Port Arthur massacre (AAP).

West Australians surrendered 1,242, while the ACT and the Northern Territory handed in the least number at 699 and 347 respectively.

A Buffalo Arms M1919A4 Browning machine gun was handed in in Western Australia (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

Around a third of the guns handed in were destroyed, with a little more than that registered and the rest sold.

Rifles made up the bulk of firearms handed in with a total of 35,182 making their way to authorities while 12,279 shotguns were surrendered across the country.

Nearly 5,000 air rifles were handed in which could appear higher as in the ACT these were counted in the rifle category. There were 2,901 handguns surrendered.

Angus Taylor said because of the national amnesty "every Australian will be more safe and more secure" (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

Mr Angus said “every Australian will be more safe and more secure” because of the amnesty but said there are currently no plans to hold another one.

“If we were to have another one, it’d require close collaboration with states and communities. There may come time for another one in the future,” he said.

Mr Angus said while the “vast majority” of the guns handed back were “guns we know are capable of being used by criminals”, there were “some very odd ones” surrendered.

In Queensland a rocket launcher was surrendered, with the suggestion it had once been recovered at a local tip.

A homemade machine gun was handed in South Australia (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

In South Australia, a homemade machine gun was handed in while in Tasmania a Norinco SKK semi-automatic rifle, a highly-controlled firearm, was handed in along with 1,000 rounds of ammunition. A Sten machine gun was handed into police in South Australia.

A Sten machine gun was handed in to police in South Australia (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

“Though the firearm was partially deactivated, it could have easily been modified to an operable state. Sten machine guns are best known for their use by British Commonwealth forces during WWII,” the report stated.

Weapons of historical significance were also handed in, with a husband and wife contacting their local historical society during the Amnesty to donate a revolver and two sabres.

The items had belonged to one of the owners’ fathers, who had left Australia as a boy in the 1880s to complete schooling in Switzerland before then joining the Swiss Armed Forces where he served as a Captain in the cavalry before returning to Australia.

A revolver and two sabres were handed in to a local historical society (National Firearms Amnesty 2017 Report)

The Victorian RSL was also donated firearms, including a Russian PPSH submachine gun, that had been in his family since World War II. In the ACT a German Maxim machine gun was handed in, which was captured by the Australian Light Horse in 1918 andshipped to Australia to be gifted to the town of Lal Lal in Victoria. It was donated to the Australian War Memorial.

During the amnesty, participants were able to participate in a voluntary and anonymous survey.