WA to cap firearm ownership, nation's toughest gun laws

Western Australia is set to become the nation’s first jurisdiction to limit the number of guns someone can own under tough new firearm laws introduced to parliament.

The Cook government said the proposed amendments were the most significant gun law reforms in Australia since former prime minister John Howard implemented the National Firearms Agreement in 1996.

Premier Roger Cook said the proposed legislation would impose stricter licensing and storage requirements, compulsory training and health checks for firearms owners, and mandatory disqualifying offences.

“We’ve seen what happens overseas when firearms ownership gets out of hand when firearms get into the wrong hands,” he said on Wednesday.

“We don’t want that to happen in WA.”

Mr Cook said the Bill would modernise WA’s gun licensing regime and prioritises public safety over the “privilege of owning a firearm”.

“New laws will replace the current five-decades-old act and see my government unapologetically impose the strictest regulations of firearms anywhere in Australia,” he said.

Mr Cook said the amendments were the result of years of consultation with licence holders, the industry and the broader public.

WA is unapologetically imposing the nations toughest gun laws, Premier Roger Cook says. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

“Farmers who use firearms to do their job, club members who use them to participate in their sport and recreational hunters who help landowners to control vermin are all accommodated for,” he said.

“But some current gun owners may struggle to prove their legitimate need for a licence when the laws change.”

A state government-sponsored, $64.3 million firearms buyback scheme started on Wednesday.

It will run for six months or until the money is exhausted.

Gun owners surrendering weapons will be eligible for payments of up to $1000 per weapon, depending on the type, style, calibre and initial registration date.

There are more than 360,000 licensed firearms owned by fewer than 90,000 people in WA, the government says.

Unlicensed firearms can also be surrendered without penalty or fear of prosecution, however, they will not qualify for the buyback scheme.

The opposition accused the Labor government of abandoning due process “in an ideological rush to pass Australia’s most unworkable gun laws”.

Leader Shane Love said the consultation process was a “sham”.

“Allowing WA’s 90,000 registered firearms owners just three weeks to provide feedback to a complex, 62-page document proposing significant changes to all aspects of the licensing and regulatory regime in WA makes a mockery of the consultation process,” he said.

“No wonder over 12,000 West Australians signed our petition calling for the consultation process to be significantly extended – a request which the Government arrogantly brushed off.”

WA Pastoralists and Graziers Association policy director Sheldon Mumby said primary producers were pleased with the government’s consultation and the reforms.

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation said the proposed laws were the strongest firearm reforms in Australia since the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996.

It said they would help keep the community safe from gun violence and reduce the likelihood of criminal access to dangerous firearms; however, some areas could be strengthened further.