❓ Hon Phil Twiss questions the Minister for Police regarding erroneous notifications sent to firearms owners, directing them to surrender their firearms. The Minister provides figures on the number of owners affected and actions taken.
AnsweredQoN 99Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
Firearms—Reforms—Surrender notifications
99. Hon Phil Twiss to
the minister representing the Minister for Police:
I refer to the firearms owners who contacted my office
after receiving emails from the Western Australia Police Force stating that
licensed owners were being notified that their "transitional authority has
now expired". They were directed to "immediately surrender all
firearms and ammunition to which the licence relates to a police station"
on the basis that continuing to possess them was "reasonably suspected to
be unlawful". Subsequently, a number of these individuals were advised
that the email had been sent in error.
(1) How many licensed firearms owners
were contacted in this process, and of these:
(a) how many had legitimately not
complied within the timeframe;
(b) how many were contacted in error;
(c) of those contacted in error, how many
surrendered their firearms; and
(d) has a formal apology been issued by the
Western Australia Police Force to those contacted in error?
99. Hon Phil Twiss to
the minister representing the Minister for Police:
I refer to the firearms owners who contacted my office
after receiving emails from the Western Australia Police Force stating that
licensed owners were being notified that their "transitional authority has
now expired". They were directed to "immediately surrender all
firearms and ammunition to which the licence relates to a police station"
on the basis that continuing to possess them was "reasonably suspected to
be unlawful". Subsequently, a number of these individuals were advised
that the email had been sent in error.
(1) How many licensed firearms owners
were contacted in this process, and of these:
(a) how many had legitimately not
complied within the timeframe;
(b) how many were contacted in error;
(c) of those contacted in error, how many
surrendered their firearms; and
(d) has a formal apology been issued by the
Western Australia Police Force to those contacted in error?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me
by the Minister for Police.
(1) It was 3,111.
(a) This was 2,348;
(b) there were 763;
(c) none; and
(d) the incorrect direction to surrender
notices primarily affected licence holders who had completed their transitional
requirements but had not yet paid their licence renewal fee. All licence
holders who were incorrectly directed to surrender firearms have been contacted
and reassured regarding their licence status and assistance has been provided
to those with outstanding renewal payments.
for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me
by the Minister for Police.
(1) It was 3,111.
(a) This was 2,348;
(b) there were 763;
(c) none; and
(d) the incorrect direction to surrender
notices primarily affected licence holders who had completed their transitional
requirements but had not yet paid their licence renewal fee. All licence
holders who were incorrectly directed to surrender firearms have been contacted
and reassured regarding their licence status and assistance has been provided
to those with outstanding renewal payments.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.