A fully automatic sub-machine gun seized on Sydney’s streets may in fact be good news for public safety.

NSW Police reportedly found the Thompson sub-machine gun in a bag carried by a man in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Marrickville.

Officers were waiting to arrest Marc Avidov, 41 early on Thursday afternoon when he alighted from a taxi. They confirmed he was being investigated as part of an ongoing investigation, and was not thought to be linked to terrorism.

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“Officers were waiting in Murray Street, Marrickville, when a 41-year-old man arrived by taxi about 12.30pm,” NSW Police said in a statement.

Along with the deadly weapon, the man’s bag contained 44 shotgun shells and 148 bullets, police said. He was charged with possessing an unregistered firearm, acquiring a firearm without a permit and other gun-related offences and remanded in custody at Newton Local Court on Thursday.

Police said they were investigating how the man sourced the gun. What is comforting for Australians is its type.

Research undertaken by The New Daily indicates that outdated firearms are increasingly being used in acts of crime in NSW and Victoria.

This is an indication that the introduction of national gun laws in 1996 has made it more difficult for some criminals to acquire the latest models of American- and European-manufactured handguns, such as the Glock G17.

While court records suggest that organised crime syndicates are smuggling newer types of weapons into the country, lone offenders are more likely to rely on older weapons, such as the Thompson sub-machine gun that was confiscated in Marrickville.

It’s reassuring that many illegal weapons, like the Tommy Gun, are outdated.

The Thompson sub-machine gun is also known as the “Tommy Gun” and was a weapon of choice for mob hitmen in the United States before World War II.

The gun seized by police was not registered, which indicates it was one of many thousands of weapons that were not handed in to authorities during the gun buyback program that followed the ban on semi-automatic firearms in 1996.

NSW Police recently intensified their crackdown on the illegal firearms trade.

Data collated by The New Daily shows that 3463 charges were brought by NSW police for firearms offences in the 12 months to the end of 2015.

That represents almost a doubling of the charge rate of 2006 when 1892 offences were identified by police.

As for the accused man, Marc Avidov, he made no application for bail. His lawyer requested an adjournment so he could consider his plea.

Avidov was already on bail for another alleged offence. He failed to appear in court in August and was convicted in his absence of a number of offences.

In July, he was convicted of possessing an extendible baton, as well as possessing materials including a Polaroid printer, blank drivers’ licences and EFTPOS cards with the intention of committing forgery.

He was also in possession of the identification information of seven people for the purpose of committing an indictable offence.

Magistrate Robert Williams formally refused bail in the absence of an application and remanded Avidov in custody.

He will return to court in Newtown on November 26.

– with George Lekakis, Jackson Stiles and AAP