The National Security Minister says that within the last 96 hours there were three double murders in this country and a key reason for this is the prevalence of and the use of automatic weapons.

The Minister was responding to a question from an Independent Senator in the Senate today about an increase in murders in the past six months.

The Minister also said there has not been an increase in home invasions in the past four months except for three communities in particular.

Our Political Editor Juhel Browne reports.