“PROPER planning prevents p… poor performance” is probably not a slogan found draped across the entrance to the office of the architect of the Western Australian Firearms Act. It has become a recurring theme with this Labour government that consultation is a buzzword written in its own reports to convince itself that what it has done is right.
I often wonder if the previous Police Minister and his henchman are sitting at the hairdresser’s these days, slapping each other on the back with war stories about how they escaped this firefight before the innocent civilians were maimed. As the deadline roars towards innocent firearm owners having run out of time to understand and complete all the steps required to satisfy the designers of this new firearms regime, here’s hoping that the other States and Territories pay no attention to the WA Labor rhetoric that “we have the best gun laws in the nation”.
In what has become a contemptuous competition among premiers and police ministers across the country to play political football with the lives and fortunes of licensed Australian firearm owners, last week the screws were tightened an extra notch in WA as the first seizure notices were sent out to local police stations. It is our understanding that the first 50 files drawn up from the existing 1973 database were based on the super reliable and historical data that these super villains were hiding in the suburbs and had failed to reduce the number of firearms on their licence to five or 10.
By the time you are reading this article, there will be another conveniently timed media release, if there isn’t already, announcing that the government continues to keep the community safe by removing that dangerous sixth firearm from individuals who have failed to comply with the law. If only this were the case, it would be bad enough. But the cold, hard reality is that anyone with too many previously approved firearms will now lose the whole lot and have their licence cancelled. At this point, I am going to pull the handbrake on and take a pragmatic view from the other side. There is no doubt that some in our firearms community have remained obstinate and buried their heads in the sand.
At the risk of being deemed excommunicado by the radical few, the law is the law, and, like it or not, we all must abide by it. Many licensed firearm owners have provided glowing reports of the assistance they received from the transition team in retaining their licence. It has taken a while, but we got there eventually.
This does not excuse the fact that owners of firearms in this State are spread far and wide. They span three generations and range in age from 18 to 80 years.
In many cases, the social disadvantage of not being able to read and comprehend 20 pages of instructions on ‘what to do’ that suddenly arrived in their letterbox has proven stressful, anxiety-inducing and frightening.
Computers, portals, PDFs and two-factor authentication are Latin for countless hard-working regular gun owners who have always looked to WA Police for help, not punishment.
I cannot think of another community project on this scale that has not involved a long, sustained government campaign across television, radio, billboards and print media to convey that something is changing. I think now might be the time to bring in the multi-hat-wearing education minister, given the total lack of clear and effective messaging provided at any stage to licensed firearm owners throughout this process.
Regardless, I will use this platform effectively and set out again the main options for licensed firearm owners to keep their licence and remain compliant with the new legislation.
Hunting Licence
For a maximum of five firearms, the licence holder must have a Standard Hunting Authority to hunt off land from a landowner.
This can be you if you own some land.
If you own two hectares or more, you can register your own property with WA Police and retain your firearms with your own genuine reason to own and use the firearms for hunting.
Competition Licence
Maximum 10 firearms require the licence holder to provide evidence that they are an active and financial member of an approved shooting club.
Minimum attendance requirements for competition licences apply.
Multi-Purpose Licence
Hunting and Competition- A maximum of 10 firearms requires the licence holder to provide a Standard Hunting Authority to hunt on land and also provide evidence that they are an active and financial member of an approved shooting club.
In any case, the licence holder can still only have five guns for hunting purposes in this situation. So, a mix of five for competition and five for hunting, or six for competition and four for hunting, etc.
Primary Producers Licence
Maximum of 10 firearms – requires the licence holder to provide evidence that they are a primary producer and then they can have their existing old firearm license upgraded to a Primary Producers Licence. There are more complex options within the Firearms Act to resolve your numbers if they remain above the limit.
The number one option is to keep your firearm licence and keep shooting.
The number two option is to introduce a new person to shooting and help them obtain their firearm licence, so we can all keep shooting into the future.
By PAUL FITZGERALD
State President
Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (WA)