NT urged to strengthen 'ancient' gun laws

Locked and loaded, these professional shooters take aim at this Darwin Club. The rules are strict for a reason. So yeah, always make sure your firearm is clear. There’s number one rule, but outside these confines, there’s concerns. Following a series of high profile crimes involving guns in recent years, it’s people who aren’t operating within the legal bounds. The federal government has committed $161 million to establish a National Firearms Register, putting the territories gun laws under the spotlight. Our act and our regs are so ancient that. They probably need a rewrite. There’s not enough consultation with subject matter experts who are actually involved in the the industry and participants in the sport. A lot of it is knee jerk decisions. In the NT, the maximum penalty for unlawful possession of a gun is up to two years in jail. Compare that to NSW where it’s 14 years and up to 20 years imprisonment in the ACT. NT legislation doesn’t rule out personal protection as a reason to own a gun. And it’s not an offence to purchase a firearm from an unauthorised seller. Experts say illegal guns are getting into the country through organised crime. The vast majority of gun crime is undertaken by criminals. Australia has a large grey market, so this is where weapons that have been stolen are being traded. He wants governments to bolster Australia’s border security and target illegal possession. It is only by doing that that will provide community safety. NT Police Minister Brent Potter says they’ve been multiple operations to thwart illegal gun possession. And he welcomes the National Firearms Register, saying it’s a significant step forward in gun management.