One Nation is very concerned about the contents of the recently released National Firearms Agreement. The new agreement will have huge impacts on sporting shooting clubs and their members, primary producers, as well as all other law abiding Queenslanders who use or own firearms for sport or recreation.
How can the Palaszczuk Government justify taking away a fundamental tool-of-trade for primary producers by signing up to this new agreement? Unacceptably, the Queensland Government has signed the NFA—showing a total disregard for sporting shooters. One Nation will stop making criminals out of licensed gun owners and will continue to consult with all stakeholders.
Focus of policy is to move away from trying to criminalise firearms ownership to punishing criminals for the use of firearms to commit crimes.
- Recognise that as a matter of principle, licensed firearm ownership by law-abiding citizens is a right in a free society. More focus towards causal factors in gun violence including criminal use of firearms, mental health issues and support for policing violent domestic situations.
- Create a general unregistered firearms amnesty involving dealers, with both the opportunity to surrender unregistered firearms and the opportunity for licensed shooters to register them without penalty.
- Introduce a “Licence Instant Verification System” (LIVS) for firearm dealers to replace the current paper based PTA system to ensure firearms are not sold to those whose licence is cancelled or expired.
- Create a single firearms licence system with multiple endorsements for specific uses (e.g. “collector, “dealer”, “handgun”, security guard” etc) to avoid the requirement for multiple licences for occupational shooters.
- End the so-called “genuine reason/genuine need” test for each individual firearm on the basis that the licensed individual has already been cleared a fit and proper person to possess a firearm in any given category he/she is licensed for.
- Reduce waiting periods before purchasing handguns in line with the 28-day waiting period for other firearm categories, and initial purchase reduced to three instead of six months whilst maintaining the 3 participation matches currently required. No compulsory waiting period for any second or subsequent firearms as this serves no logical purpose other than to inconvenience shooters.
- Remove the provisions restricting firearms based on subjective appearance and adhere to the measurable categories of functionality as per the Australian Customs import test.
- Ensure that primary producers and feral pest controllers continue to be able to use categories A, B, C, D and H firearms.
- Exempt calibre, barrel length and magazine restrictions for state and national competition shooters to allow the re-establishment of international shooting competitions which have been largely destroyed by the current restrictions.
- Allow the purchase of ammunition for firearms outside of the existing licence category to cater for borrowing a registered firearm from another licensed owner, for example when assisting pest control on their property (reasonable excuse).
- Legalise volunteer feral pest controllers to assist in eradication of severe feral infestations on rural properties and promote this within DPI and the EPA.
- Make membership lists for gun clubs legally exempt from requests to access or view by external parties without a warrant, including other members, to prevent criminals or anti-firearm extremists gaining access to this information.
- Introduce intelligence-based licensed firearm owner audits to free-up police hours. Police to be encouraged to educate licensed firearm owners on firearm security rather than to attempt to penalise unintentional minor mistakes.
- Reduce the requirement for pistol owners to shoot in a minimum number of competitions each year for each category of firearms owned. On the basis that this provides no safety benefit and is simply an onerous bureaucratic requirement akin to requiring that a driver travel a minimum number of kilometres per year in order to keep a driver’s licence.
- Recognise recreational hunting and pest control as legitimate reasons to obtain a firearms licence with no landholder letter required.
- Authorise sports shooting associations and clubs that wish to teach firearms licence safety courses.
- Reduce police firearms storage verification if a shooter can on initial inspection show that they exceed the safe storage requirement (dual locking, dyna bolting, multi-bolt safe doors). Introduce a signed acknowledgement of the requirement for safe storage of firearms in compliance with the relevant legislation for those purchasing their first firearm, including an acknowledgement of the penalty for failing to comply with this.
- Allow licence applications, changes and renewals to be undertaken on-line as well as at police stations and firearms dealers.
- Mandate performance benchmarks for weapons licensing to dispatch new and renewed licences within 30 days of application being delivered to Weapons Licensing Branch. Recognise in law that receipt of an application for renewal of an expiring firearms license extends licence validity until the receipt of the new firearms licence.
- Introduce increased accountability and transparency for firearms regulators under the Weapons Act to ensure that powers are clearly defined in law and limited to specific situations to avoid arbitrary decision making.
- Introduce significantly increased penalties for crimes committed with a firearm and theft of a firearm.
