Flaw in gun law mended
Herald Sun, Page: 23 Wednesday, 11 January 2012
The closure of a bizarre loophole in gun laws will make it easier to stop criminals carrying firearms.
A legislative amendment, expected to pass when Parliament resumes, will prevent any exploitation of laws that ban "prohibited persons" from having firearms.
In a 2010 case that prompted a review of the Firearms Act, a member of a Melbourne crime family beat firearms charges after a judge accepted he could not have known whether a revolver was registered.
The County Court judge ruled that to successfully prosecute someone for being a prohibited person possessing, carrying or using a registered or unregistered firearm, it had to be demonstrated that the person knew the gun’s status.
The judge also directed a jury to acquit the man of another charge of possessing a firearm on which the serial number had been defaced or altered.
In dismissing the charges, the judge said it was regrettable that the Firearms Act “makes no provision for the simple charge of being a prohibited person in charge of a firearm, regardless of its status as to registration or its condition.”
"Possession of a gun in either state of registration was, for this accused in the circumstances he was then in, a serious offence and all of the circumstances referred to seem to me to be equally supportive of either state of mind as to its registration," the judge said.
Police and prosecutors asked the Government to change the law.
The new law will remove the current distinction between registered and unregistered firearms and combine them in one offence, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.
The judge who made the ruling cannot be named, because it may identify the offender, who is facing a new trial over another matter.
The man has previous convictions for firearms offences, serious assault and drug matters.
A conviction for a serious firearms offence or any other indictable offence makes an offender a prohibited person.
When dismissing the charge of defacing the revolver’s serial number, the judge cited rulings by two other County Court judges.
Be said both judges had ruled such a charge could not be maintained because it required proof that the altering or defacing or the serial number was "not in accordance with this Act".
Because there was no way the Crown could establish that the defacing was not done in a way that was in accordance with the Act, a verdict of not guilty was also directed in both those cases.
The detective in charge of the Santiago Taskforce, which was set up in 2008 to investigate shootings in Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs, welcomed the legislative change yesterday.
Detective Inspector Stephen Dennis said the new law would help police put offenders found with handguns before the courts.
"We are certainly focused on reducing the number of firearms out there, particularly handguns," he said.
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