So, is this info from Wikipedia accurate?
Gun laws in Australia are predominantly within the jurisdiction of Australian states and territories, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. In the last two decades of the 20th century, following several high-profile killing sprees, the federal government coordinated more restrictive firearms legislation with all state governments. Gun laws were largely aligned in 1996 by the National Firearms Agreement. In two federally funded gun buybacks and voluntary surrenders and State Governments' gun amnesties before and after the Port Arthur Massacre were collected and destroyed, more than a million firearms, possibly a third of the national stock.
A person must have a firearm licence to possess or use a firearm.
Licence holders must demonstrate a "genuine reason" (which does not include self-defence) for holding a firearm licence and must not be a "prohibited person". All firearms must be registered by serial number to the owner, who must also hold a firearms licence.
National legislative structure
Following the shooting incidents at Port Arthur in 1996 and Monash University in 2002 the Australian state and territory governments, through the then Australian Police Ministers' Council (APMC) and Council of Australian Governments (COAG), entered into three national agreements that were responsible for shaping contemporary Australian firearm laws. These agreements were the:
- National Firearms Agreement (1996)
- National Firearm Trafficking Policy Agreement (2002)
- National Handgun Control Agreement (2002).
The ownership, possession and use of firearms in Australia is regulated by state and territory laws:
- New South Wales: Firearms Act 1996, Weapons Prohibition Act 1998, and associated regulations
- Victoria: Firearms Act 1996 and associated regulations
- Queensland: Weapons Act 1990 and associated regulations
- Western Australia: Firearms Act 1973 and associated regulations
- South Australia: Firearms Act 2015 and associated regulations
- Tasmania: Firearms Act 1996 and associated regulations
- Northern Territory: Firearms Act 1997 and associated regulations
- Australian Capital Territory: Firearms Act 1996, Prohibited Weapons Act 1996, and associated regulations.
At the federal level, the importation of firearms is subject to the restrictions in Regulation 4F and Schedule 6 of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (Cth).
Firearms categories
The National Firearm Agreement defines categories of firearms, with different levels of control for each, as follows:.
Category A
Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action, semi-automatic, or lever-action) & air rifles including semi-automatic rifles.
Category B
Centrefire rifles including bolt-action, pump-action and lever-action (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901 and lever-action shotguns with a
magazine capacity of up to 5 rounds.
Category C
Pump-action or self-loading shotguns having a magazine capacity of 5 or fewer rounds and semi-automatic rimfire rifles up to 10 rounds. Primary producers, farm workers, firearm dealers, firearm safety officers, collectors and clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms. In Western Australia, Category C shotguns may be owned by sporting shooters who participate in practical shotgun competitions. However, this is generally limited to second-hand shotguns.
Category D
All self-loading centrefire rifles, pump-action or self-loading or lever-action shotguns that have a magazine capacity of more than 5 rounds, semi-automatic rimfire rifles over 10 rounds, are restricted to government agencies, occupational shooters and primary producers.
Category H
Handguns can be owned for a number of "genuine reasons" including target shooting, occupational (security guard and prison guard), carrying on behalf of a junior, and official, commercial or prescribed purposes authorized by an Act or Regulation. For target shooters, a paid membership to an approved pistol club is mandated.
Handguns allowed for target shooting are divided into four classes:
- Air handgun
- Rimfire handgun
- Centrefire handgun with a calibre of .38 inches (9.7 mm) or less, or a black powder handgun
- Centrefire handgun with a calibre of more than .38 inch but not more than .45 inches (11 mm)
The amount of shooting participation that a licensed target shooter is obliged to complete is solely determined by the number of classes of handguns that are legally "owned" by that person — not the actual quantity of handguns owned. A minimum number of matches is required yearly to retain ownership for each class of handgun and continue being a paid-up member of an approved pistol club, and it varies between states.
To be eligible for a Category H Licence, a target shooter must serve a probationary period of at least 6 months and have to participate a minimum number of shooting sessions using club handguns, after which they are required to leave a fingerprint record with the police before applying for a permit. Target shooters are limited to handguns below .38 or 9mm calibers, and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain "approved" pistol competitions (currently only Single Action Shooting and Metallic Silhouette) may acquire handguns up to .45 caliber. IPSC shooting is approved for 9mm/.38/.357 SIG for handguns that meet the IPSC rules. Larger calibres such as .45 were approved for IPSC contests in Australia in 2014, however so far only in Victoria. The barrel must be at least 100 mm (3.94 in) long for revolvers, and 120 mm (4.72 in) for semi-automatic pistols, unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols.
Centrefire handguns with a caliber greater than .45 are considered restricted firearms, whose ownership require a Category R/E Licence (see below).
Category R/E
Restricted weapons include military weapons such as machine guns, rocket launchers, full automatic self-loading rifles, flamethrowers and anti-tank guns in some states.
Certain antique firearms (generally muzzleloading black powder flintlock firearms manufactured before 1 January 1901) can in some states be legally held without a licence. In other states they are subject to the same requirements as modern firearms.
Certain states, firearms that "substantially duplicates military-style rifles in design, function or appearance" are subjected to harsher regulations. The implication of this, which is unofficially referred to as the "Appearance Law", is that any gun, regardless of the actual mechanical nature of its action, may be reclassified into Category D or R/E if it is deemed to cosmetically resemble an assault rifle, and is the basis of the arbitrary illegality of average civilians possessing "imitation firearms" such as airsoft guns and similar toy replicas.
Licensing
The states issue firearms licences for a legal reason, such as hunting, sport shooting, pest control, collecting and for farmers and farm workers. Licences must be renewed every 3 or 5 years (or 10 years in the Northern Territory and South Australia). Full licence-holders must be 18 years of age.
Junior licences in Victoria and New South Wales are available from 12 years of age, this allows the use of firearms for the purpose of receiving instruction in the use of the firearm or engaging in sport or target shooting competitions.
Licences are prohibited for convicted offenders and those with a history of mental illness.
In May 2018 Victoria introduced firearm prohibition orders to reduce firearm related-crime by targeting those who want to possess, use or carry firearms for unlawful purposes. The person served with an order must immediately surrender any firearm or firearm related item in their possession and the firearms licence is cancelled.
Persons or companies conducting a business involving the buying, selling or trading of firearms or ammunition must obtain a firearm dealers licence, and firearms repairers must hold a firearms repairer's licence. These must be renewed annually.
