A proposed new firearms amendment bill in South Australia has got the state’s shooters up in arms with concern that the police could be given power to seize guns arbitrarily.
According to the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia SA website, the bill was tabled the Wednesday night at 7 pm without anyone knowing what was going on.
“It will come up before Parliament in the last sitting week we think (that is week after next),” the website reads. “Bill and a consolidated version of the Act available to download along with the contact details of the lower house.
“We would like all members to write, call or arrange a meeting with your local member to voice your concerns urgently as we do not have a lot of time.”
Some of the concerns that need to be raised are:
- No consultation and the opposite of what the Premier, the AG and SAPOL advised in their media release, last week.
- Many areas of these amendments will affect lawful firearm owners as they currently are written.
- If some suitable amendments, allowing exemptions in some areas for members of recognised clubs conducting recognised shooting disciplines and collecting are inserted, it would certainly minimise the concerns
- There is no compensation proposed for any prohibited items or magazines over 10 rds capacity. Some of these items could be worth many hundreds of dollars for some items, but not knowing what is to be prohibited, it is difficult to discuss!
- Most competitive Shooters alter their firearms to gain a competitive advantage – within the discipline rules – and within the law – but could now be in situation that their firearms could be deemed unlawful – based on some unknown regulation, that these amendments will allow.
- Some areas e.g. trafficking, seizure of equipment, are so convoluted it will take some time to understand, without reading fully in a consolidated Act. But on the surface it could mean police officer could deem anything could be seized if they believe it reasonably suspected of being used or intended. The law must be specific we cannot have a law that allows a police officer to determine if lawfully owned piece of equipment might be used to commit an offence. It would be akin to banning all motor vehicles as it could be reasonably assumed that a person driving one might speed! And a person would have to go to court and “prove” he did not have that intent! This is crazy stuff. There has got to be better way police so called illegal trafficking and manufacturing without assuming that all firearm owners are a problem. There is no problem with lawful firearm owners in modifying their firearms for lawful purposes.
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