No limit on bullets for illegal firearms

The federal government is allowing the importation and sale of bullets for guns that have been banned since 2003, in a disturbing legal loophole.

Australian Federal Police Association president Alex Caruana. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Bullets for guns that have been banned since 2003 are being ­imported and sold using a legal loophole allowed by the federal government, which experts warn is fuelling the black-market ­ammunition trade.

Dozens of handguns were outlawed in 2003 after a licensed ­pistol owner opened fire in a ­Monash University tutorial room in October 2002, killing two ­people and wounding five more.

But even though it is illegal to import, possess or own those guns, the specific ammunition is still legally being brought into the country and sold at licensed gun shops.

The Australian Federal Police Association has urged the Albanese government to close the loophole and outlaw the importation of the bullets, which include .25 calibre bullets for the automatic Colt pistol.

AFPA president Alex Caruana said states and territories should also introduce strict limits on the amount of ammunition that can be bought, so it can’t be stockpiled in massive quantities or on-sold to unlicensed gun owners.

“There’s no upper limitations (in many jurisdictions) to how much you can buy, and potentially they can buy ammunition that other people have firearms for – unlicensed – that are off the books, to supply the grey market with this ammunition,” he said.

“What the federal government had an opportunity to do at the time (in 2003) was to say ‘If the firearm is prohibited, let’s prohibit the ammunition’. But it never did. And since then, no one’s bothered to go back and look at the loopholes that exist.”

Independent senator for the ACT David Pocock is also calling for the federal government to close the loophole, saying that he has personally lobbied Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

“The recent tragedy in Queensland has highlighted the need to continue the firearms ­reforms commenced by the Howard government almost three decades ago,” Senator Pocock said, referring to the fatal ambush of two police officers and a neighbour who were shot dead at a ­remote property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, last month.

“I support the AFPA’s call for a national firearm registry, as well as prohibiting the importation of ammunition for firearms that are banned in Australia.”

Senator David Pocock. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A spokeswoman for Mr Dreyfus said Australia had some of the toughest gun laws and they were “under constant review”.

After lobbying from the Queensland Police Union and the AFPA, Prime Minister ­Anthony Albanese and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk committed to raising the issue of a national register of ­licensed gun owners.

In South Australia and Victoria, gun owners can buy as much ammunition as is considered “reasonable” for their needs, while in Western Australia and Queensland there is no limit on the amount of bullets bought at one time.

In WA, Tasmania and Victoria, gun owners can buy ammunition only for the guns they’re licensed to hold, but in South Australia, licence-holders can buy ammunition for other firearms as long as they are in the same category as the gun they hold a licence for.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said there were “no restrictions relating to a licensed gun owner buying ammunition” in the state. Western Australia and NSW are overhauling or reviewing aspects of their gun laws.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s most ­recent public report into illicit firearms estimated there were at least 260,000 guns on the black market: 250,000 long-arms and 10,000 handguns.

Additional reporting: Paul Garvey, Rachel Baxendale, Max Maddison

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