NSW Gun Law Update (ABC Report Misleading)
Recently I posted about possible NSW gun law reform creating a new category for military weapons. I commented on a small report by ABC News. It turns out that the ABC got its facts
Magazines that can be used in automatic rifles such as the Remington 7615's AR15 magazine may be affected by the new Prohibited Weapons amendment bill.
completely wrong. The Government does not plan to introduce firearm restrictions but to insert a definition of military style weapons (bombs, grenades, flame throwers etc.) into a new clause of in the bill. That doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels though as its only one simple amendment to include certain types of firearms into this definition.
The ABC story wasn’t only misleading but it was completely deceptive. The report stated that it plans to create a new category for military weapons (whilst showing footage of an “assault rifle”) and then the report attributes the changes to the fact that firearms licenses in NSW have risen 5% over the last few years. From what I gather, this new legislation has nothing to do with recreational firearm owners or the number of licenses issued but is more or less extending a ban that was already in place.
The ABC did some woeful reporting that was totally deceptive. The fact that the ABC totally misrepresented the issue and then attributed the reason for it on something totally unrelated is bad journalism. At the time I felt I had to get the word out there in case there was any shred of truth to it. Now the information is available I am correcting myself, which I bet you won’t see the ABC doing.
I would hate to imagine how many things that reporters get only half right on things we know nothing about.
After hearing the report I immediately emailed the NSW Police Commissioner’s office asking a series of questions about the proposed changes.
Here is the response I got back from NSW Firearms Registry General Manager Phil Houlton:
Dear Mr, Drain
We are in receipt of your correspondence within which you pose a number of
questions regarding military style weapons and proposals for future
amendments.I can indicate that the Weapons and Firearms Legislation Amendment Bill
2010 (the Bill) has been introduced into Parliament. You may view a copy
of the Bill by going to the Parliament of New South Wales web site and
conducting a search of ‘Bills’, alternatively you may click on the link
below:You may not be aware that you have the ability ask questions and express
an opinion regarding proposed legislative amendments via your local MP,
and we encourage you to do so. However, in the interim, we can offer you
an explanation in relation to the questions you have raised, where it is
appropriate for this Office to do so.The Bill proposes to insert a definition of military style weapons into
the Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 (the Act). If you turn to the Act as it
appears today, you will note at Schedule 1 there are four clauses
prescribing prohibited weapons, being 1. Knives; 2. Miscellaneous weapons;
3. Replicas, imitations, concealed blades etc; and 4. Miscellaneous
articles. Should the Bill succeed, a fifth clause will be inserted (clause
1A) into Schedule 1 of the Act which will detail three military style
weapons:
If you refer to items (1) and (2) of clause 2 of Schedule 1 as it appears
today, and you will note that a bomb, grenade, rocket, missile, mine and
flame thrower are already covered. So essentially what the amendment shall
do is extract those items from where they are currently listed and
reinsert into a newly created clause.
In response to your question of what requirements will licensees have to
meet to hold this category in permit (sic) I can indicate that the
requirement for an applicant to establish a genuine reason to possess a
prohibited weapon remains unchanged.
In response to your question of does this move need to be passed by
parliament, as detailed above, this Bill is presently before Parliament
and it undergoes rigorous debate before being passed. Any concerns you
would like raised need to go to your local MP who will take the necessary
course of action on your behalf.
In response to your remaining questions, these are of a nature which are
best raised with your local MP. I can indicate that a review of the
Weapons Prohibition Act 1998 and the associated Regulation has been
undertaken on two occasions, involving public consultation, and that the
Bill reflects certain outcomes of the reviews and also NSW Police Ministry
Policy decisions.
Regards,(1) Any bomb, grenade, rocket, missile or mine or other similar
device (such as a tear-gas canister) that is in the nature of, or that
expels or contains, an explosive, incendiary, irritant, gas or
smoke, and whether or not it is live, has been deactivated or is spent.For the purposes of this subclause, bomb includes a device known
as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).(2) Any device intended for use by a military or defence force and
that is designed to propel or launch a weapon referred to in subclause
(1).(3) A flame thrower that is of military design or any other device
that is capable of projecting ignited incendiary fuel.Phill Houlton
General Manager
Firearms Registry
One thing we must watch out for though is the definition of a magazine:
An excerpt from an email I received from Pamela Reeves who is from the Parliamentary Office of the Shooters Party:
The Government Bill does replace the definition of detachable firearm magazines as a prohibited weapon, adding a new subparagraph (c) and (g). I note that there has been some debate on this matter on the Australian Hunting Net website, where it is suggested that magazines for a Remington 7615 Patrol (pump action) rifle may be interchangeable with those for M16/AR15 rifles. Under the proposed amendment as it stands these magazines would become a prohibited weapon.
However, under the current Weapons Prohibition Regulation 2009, an exemption currently exists so that persons holding a Category D firearms licence can use a firearm that takes a magazine prohibited under the Weapons Prohibition Act, without the need to obtain a Prohibited Weapons permit. One way to resolve the problem for the Rem 7615 magazines would be to seek amendment of the Regulation to extend this exemption to persons holding a Category B firearms licence as well.
Roy will be keeping a very, very close eye on the situation, especially given the AHN discussion on magazines, and also reports he’s had from other states regarding the increased difficulty of getting so called ‘sniper’ calibres, and reports of the NSW Range Inspector increasing calibre restrictions on range approvals.
www.huntandshoot.com.au will keep monitoring this situation as it progresses and update you with what we find out.
Related posts:
- NSW To Get Some Gun Reform??
- Shooters Party Tabling Another Firearms Ammendment Bill
- How I Would Change Gun Laws Part 1 – Firearm Categories.
Category: Hunting and Shooting News
If this bill is passed in NSW will collectors with deactivated grenades etc receive compensation if their valuable and historic collections are confiscated?
theres a saying in journalism, dont let the truth get in the way of a good story…
G’day all, just came across your site when looking for info on the new NSW legislation coming out this Friday. My interest in it is because my son runs Red Baron Laser Skirmish, an out door laser skirmish business operating in Southern NSW. We have been in ongoing discussions with the NSW Firearms Registry as recently we were required to gain a prohibited firearms permit for our toy gaming guns, even though they have never and will never be capable of firing a projectile. In fact they don’t even have lasers. They are a toy, manufactured as toys but now subject to the same laws as real guns. We are now also restricted in providing this fun family game to kids over 12 years of age, which effectively has reduced our market by 1/3. Yet in other states and territories, sister operators need no permit, but if they come over the border with one in the boot, they risk 9 years gaol. So…. while we are now restricted, those operators conducting ‘laser tag’ indoors and really do use lasers, are blissfully unaware that they are in breach of the ACT. Crazy. Phil