GUNS outnumber people in 24 Victorian towns a special investigation has revealed and the figures have horrified the anti-gun lobby.

The East Gippsland hamlet of Swifts Creek has the highest ratio: 774 registered firearms shared by just 278 residents.

French Island in Western Port Bay and Harrow, in the Wimmera, rounded out the top three gun hot spots.

National Coalition for Gun Control chairwoman Sam Lee said more guns led to more crime.

Annual figures show an increase of 62 per cent in robberies involving firearms in Victoria.

Detective Supt Brett Guerin, head of Victoria Police's serious crime division, said those involved in recent lawless behaviour in Melbourne's northwest suburbs had been "shooting up the streets as if it's the wild west". He reinforced the police strategy of "unremitting harassment" to deter the use of firearms.

The 3551 postcode, taking in towns on the outskirts of Bendigo, had the highest number of registered guns - 7179.

Victoria has 642,176, or nearly 23 per cent, of the 2.8 million firearms registered in Australia.

Police are worried after more than 39,000 extra firearms were registered in Victoria in 18 months to June last year, despite an increase of only 5000 in the number of licensed shooters.

They said their biggest concern was the number of pistols in the community and people's willingness to use them to commit crimes.

Senior police said they would blitz gun dealers and licensed shooters to try to stop legal firearms getting on the black market.

It comes as figures show registered guns now outnumber people in 24 Victorian towns.

The highest proportion is in the East Gippsland hamlet of Swifts Creek where 278 residents own 774 firearms.

Other hot spots are French Island in Western Port Bay and Harrow, in the Wimmera.

Police figures also show:

UP to 200 (75 per cent) of all pistols seized from criminals in the past three years had never been registered or could not be identified.

FORTY-ONE of the 273 firearms seized were stolen.

MORE than half the firearms used in "high end" armed robberies last year were pistols.

FIFTEEN per cent of firearms seized from criminals were stolen weapons.

The annual figures showed an increase of 62 per cent in robberies involving guns and a 15 per cent increase in assaults with a firearm.

Detective Supt Brett Guerin, head of the force's serious crime division, reinforced the police strategy of "unremitting harassment" to deter the use of guns, particularly pistols.

Supt Guerin described those involved in recent lawless behaviour in Melbourne's northwest suburbs as "peasants ... acting in a way they would in the foothills of their home country, shooting up the streets as if it's the wild west".

"Instead of farming they rob people, or stand over them or sell dope - and they use firearms to enforce it," he said.

"We can't just wait for these matters to be fully investigated and brought before the courts one or two years down the track. We've got to start making life difficult for these peanuts."

The head of the force's licensing and registration division, Supt Russell Barrett, said shootings in Melbourne had emphasised the issue of illicit gun use.

"I don't think the issues we're seeing are with the licensed shooters. The problem is not with the lawful weapons in the hands of lawful shooters," he said.

"Our focus for the next 12-18 months will be to ensure that not only the right people get licences and access to guns, but to ensure that legal guns don't become illegal."

Supt Barrett said police would be strong on regulating the practices of dealers and ensuring owners were storing firearms safely.

He said he hoped a big drop in the number of firearms stolen - 142 in 2010-11 compared with 316 the previous year - was a reflection of more secure storage.

Only 18 of the 302 guns reported stolen in Victoria in 2008-09 were recovered, the most recent Australia Institute of Criminology firearm theft statistics show.

Pistols registered rose from just over 11,200 in June 2010 to 11,600 a year later.

harrisam@heraldsun.com.au

Originally published as Guns and crime a dangerous mix