Back tougher gun sentences, PM tells Labor

Tony Abbott has pleaded with Labor to back legislation to crack down on illegal firearms, which will be reintroduced to parliament this week.

The coalition will again push for a mandatory five-year minimum sentences for traffickers by tabling legislation already rejected by the Senate in February.

The prime minister on Sunday called on Labor to support the tough new gun laws, saying it was crucial to cracking down on criminals involved in the illegal firearms trade.

"I say to Bill Shorten and the Labor Party, if you're fair dinkum about protecting our community from gun crime you should support these mandatory minimum sentences for people who traffic in illegal firearms," he told reporters in Sydney.

Labor voted against the measures earlier this year, citing an opposition to mandatory sentences.

But Mr Abbott said Labor had supported mandatory minimum sentencing for people smugglers when it was in government, and should back its gun trafficking legislation.

"The Labor Party to its credit has a fair record in this parliament on national security," he said.

"I don't believe you can properly separate out this crackdown on illegal trafficking in firearms from our overall national security effort."

But shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus ruled out support for the measure, saying heavy penalties already existed for firearms trafficking.

"There is no evidence that mandatory minimum sentences work as a deterrent," Mr Dreyfus said.

There are an estimated 250,000 illegal firearms in Australia.