Up to 130,000 WA guns off the street

WA will become the first Australian jurisdiction to limit how many firearms a shooter can legally own, as the Labor government wants to slash the number of legal guns by about one-third.

WA Police Minister Paul Papalia has attacked the gun lobby for having ‘no interest in public safety’.

Western Australia will become the first Australian jurisdiction to limit how many firearms a shooter can legally own, as the Labor government dramatically rewrites gun laws to slash the number of legal guns in the state by about one-third.

For the first time in 50 years, Western Australia will legislate major gun control reforms, including introducing mandatory mental health checks for gun ­licence applicants, annual health checks for shooters 80 or older, and an overhaul of the flawed property letter system, under which farms can give people the authority to shoot.

The state will also stop farmers, competitive shooters, and gun-club members from owning more than 10 guns; recreational shooters will be allowed to own only five.

Roger Cook’s government has publicly estimated that the gun-limit reform alone could remove up to 13,000 guns from the state, after registered firearm numbers rose 65 per cent from 2009 to 358,951 last February.

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Up to 130,000 WA guns off the street

WA will become the first Australian jurisdiction to limit how many firearms a shooter can legally own, as the Labor government wants to slash the number of legal guns by about one-third.

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But a ministerial briefing note by WA Police in February released to the Shooting Industry Foundation of Australia (SIFA) under Freedom of Information laws, forecasts the “upper limit” of firearms affected by the overall law rewrite could be 129,600. That includes up to 8000 guns forfeited by older people who fail health checks and 40,000 by those who exceed the new ownership limits.

SIFA attacked the proposed reforms, accusing the government of ignoring the concerns of industry and running a “sham” consultation.

Chief executive James Walsh said the changes would ultimately destroy the shooting industry in WA, forcing the closure of gun shop businesses, and costing jobs.

“(The WA government) have decided to introduce more inconsistencies that will move them further away from the National Firearms Agreement and vast amounts of additional regulation that will only stretch and already stretched police force further,” he said. “None of what is proposed in aimed at criminals, it only seeks to further restrict those who are wilfully compliant.”

Police Minister Paul Papalia hit back, accusing the “Queensland gun lobby” of trying to undermine the first Australian jurisdiction ­imposing limits on gun sales.

“They have no interest in public safety in Western Australia, they have a great interest in profits in selling guns to Western Australians,” he said.

“We’re driven by ensuring public safety. The gun lobby is driven by unlimited guns for everyone.”