"It means that firearms are on the list. The registry just wants to know what guns are out there," Beau said.

The first ever permanent national amnesty rolled out on July 1, and Beau's shop, Boydie's is registered as a drop-off location.

In the past, amnesties have run for short periods - three months. NSW held one in 2018 while the last national campaign was in 2017.

It is illegal to have unregistered firearms in Australia. The amnesty allows those in possession of unregistered firearms or firearm-related items to hand these items in anonymously and without penalty.

Police stations and licensed firearms dealers in most states and territories can receive unregistered or unwanted firearms. People may also surrender unwanted firearms.

Beau said there were three ways people could deal with an unregistered gun.

According to Beau, the shop has already seen around a dozen guns since July 1 - some have been surrendered and some have been registered. The most common scenario is that people come across an old gun when a family member dies.

"It'd say 75 per cent of the ones we get are from deceased estates," Beau said.

A good portion of the rest seem to come from tradies who come across them when working underneath houses or in crawl spaces.

"It happens more often than you'd think," Beau said.

With the national amnesty now set up on a permanent basis, these types of discoveries can be dealt with quickly and without any fear of penalty.

More than 57,000 firearms were surrendered during the national amnesty in 2017 - nearly 25,000 of those were handed into the NSW Police.

For a list of participating firearms dealers, visit the CrimeStoppers website.

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