American arrested in Australia after gold-plated gun found in bag

An American woman was arrested in Australia over the weekend after airport staff found a 24-carat gold-plated gun in her luggage.

The unnamed woman, 28, was taken into custody on Sunday at Sydney Airport after arriving from Los Angeles, the Australian Border Force (ABF) said.

She was charged under section 233BAB(5) of the Customs Act 1901 – which states that it is illegal for a person to “intentionally”  import unapproved firearms – after staff found an undeclared golden handgun in her bag.

A detailed scan of the woman’s luggage shows the gun shape that alerted officials to the contraband. The gun was not registered and the woman did not hold a permit to possess a firearm in Australia, the ABF statement read.

She received bail in court on Monday, and remains subject to visa cancellation and removal from the country pending the full proceedings. 

If convicted, the woman faces up to 10 years behind bars.

Australia notably has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, many of which were enacted after 35 people were killed in the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania.

In the wake of the attack, the Australian government outlawed all automatic and semi-automatic weapons, NBC News explained. A mandatory buyback plan also saw more than 600,000 guns surrendered and destroyed.

Studies suggest that the crackdown helped reduce gun crime in the country by about 7.5 percent each year. One survey also revealed that there are only 14 guns per 100 people in Australia, as compared to a staggering 120 per 100 in the US, CNN reported.

In the ABF statement, Enforcement and Detained Goods East Commander Justin Bathurst praised the airport officers’ skills and detection technology that helped apprehend the woman.

“Time and time again, we have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal, and highly dangerous, goods from crossing Australia’s border,” he said.

“The ABF is Australia’s first and most important line of defense. ABF officers are committed to protecting our community by working with law enforcement partners to prevent items like unregistered firearms getting through at the border.”