Firearms

Principles

The Greens NSW believe:

1. Public firearms policy should be concerned with the prevention of firearm violence and be directed towards the removal of objects that cause injury and death;

2. Public policy should be underpinned by World Health Organisation standards and the resolutions outlined Australasian Police Ministers Council Agreement on Firearms;

3. The availability of firearms contributes to violence in our society;

4. There must be a holistic approach to preventing gun violence, including:

  1. Tough legislation to reduce firearm ownership;
  2. Education on the dangers of firearms;
  3. Long term funding for programs that help to reduce gun violence;
  4. Support for intelligence-based policing to prevent firearm crime; and
  5. Ongoing funding for research into preventing gun violence.

5. The aims and tactics of the gun lobby must be publicly exposed

6. Rural owners of licensed firearms should limit their use of firearms to legitimate farm purposes and minimise disturbance of people on neighbouring properties.

7. That personal protection should never be regarded as a genuine reason for owning, possessing or using a firearm.

Policy detail

The Greens NSW will work towards:

8. Legislation which brings NSW laws into line with the 1996 Australasian Police Ministers Agreement on firearms;

9. A total ban on the ownership, importation and use of semi-automatic firearms;

10. An improved firearms registration system in NSW;

11. Improved cooperation between the NSW government and other levels of government in Australia to strengthen national uniform gun laws, firearms training and a national register of firearms;

12. The development (with the appropriate rights of appeal and protection of privacy) of the most stringent mechanisms to ensure that those who are not fit and proper to possess a licence to own a gun do not get a licence;

13. Tighter legislated minimum standards for the refusal and cancellation of licenses, including:

  1. Conviction of violent offences within the past five years;
  2. Being subject to an Apprehended or Domestic Violence Order within the past five years; and
  3. Mental or physical fitness.

14. The abolition of existing minors' permits;

15. All persons seeking a licence being required to:

  1. Have no criminal record involving violence, have a character reference from an authorised member of the community and the right of veto by household (immediate relatives or partners) members;
  2. Undergo a 28 day waiting period to enable check for a criminal record (including applications for a second or subsequent firearm);
  3. Demonstrate safety knowledge;
  4. Establish good and genuine reasons for possessing a licence (e.g. persons with an occupational requirement, e.g. primary producers, other rural purposes, security employees and professional shooters for nominated purposes or a member of an approved sports shooting association);
  5. Undergo tests for licences conducted by the police, or an independent government body, rather than by members of the NSW Sporting Shooters' Association; and
  6. Be required to renew licences at regular intervals with the payment of a fee to cover government costs, with licences to be issued for a period of no more than 5 years;

16. Sale and purchase of firearms and ammunition only through licenced firearms dealers;

17. Legislation that allows the sale of ammunition only for those firearms for which the purchaser is licensed, with a limitation on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at any given time;

18. Registration of firearms at the time of purchase with details to be sent immediately to police for registration;

19. A ban on mail-order sales of firearms and ammunition;

20. An immediate prohibition on the promotion or the sale of guns and/or ammunition on public land or in publicly owned buildings;

21. A state-wide register of all ammunition bought and sold in NSW;

22. A prohibition on guns being stored:

  1. In rural homes without good reason; and
  2. In urban homes, except where a licence is granted for antique gun collectors (defined as manufactured prior to 1920) and the guns have been disabled;

23. All ammunition must be stored in locked containers separate from any firearms;

24. Guns in urban areas are to be stored at gun clubs under lock and key, with firing mechanisms kept at designated police stations;

25. Regular unannounced checks by police or another enforcement body to ensure that individuals and clubs are abiding with firearm storage regulations;

26. Enforcement of regulations requiring guns in homes in rural communities to be kept in a metal box with a combination lock securely bolted to wall or floor, with firing mechanisms and ammunition locked in a similar box in a separate room;

27. The immediate and mandatory police confiscation of all firearms from people who show themselves to be unfit to hold a licence, and where a license has been revoked - this is to apply to both interim domestic violence order and those who are subject to a domestic violence order;

28. A permanent amnesty for the surrender of unauthorised firearms and strict penalties for those people found possessing unauthorised firearms;

29. The development of a strict new set of training and testing procedures for all security guards with all existing security services being required to meet the new standards.

30. Comprehensive mental health checks must be undertaken before any access to firearms.

31. A ban on all political donations from firearms manufacturers, importers and sellers as well as associated lobby groups.

32. Increased resources to random audits of firearms safe storage requirements.

Last Revised December 2019