❓ Question seeks data on firearm license revocations due to Violence Restraining Orders (VROs). Answer clarifies there's no automatic revocation, but court-ordered disqualification. WA Police doesn't centrally track these disqualifications, making data retrieval resource-intensive.
AnsweredQoN 4629Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
In relation to the automatic revocation of a firearms license when a license holder has a Violence Restraining Order issued against them; how many firearms licenses were revoked in the following financial years: (a) 2010 - 2011; (b) 2011 - 2012; (c) 2012 -2013; (d) 2013 - 2014; and (e) 2014 - 2015?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 February 2016
Responded by
Minister for Police
Response time
124 days
(a) – (e)
There is no automatic revocation of a firearms licence when a license holder has a violence restraining order issued against them.
Section 27A of the Firearms Act 1973 provides that:
(1) “A court making a violence restraining order against a person may order that, for the term set by the court or until a court orders to the contrary, the person be disqualified from holding any licence, permit, or approval, or any particular licence, permit, or approval under this Act.”
and
(4) “The court is to ensure that details of the restraining order and the disqualification order are known to the Commissioner as soon as practicable.”
When the court issues an order under s27A the following procedure applies: • WA Police would receive a notification from the Department of the Attorney General, Court and Tribunal Services; • WA Police would seize the firearm/s; • A note would be placed on the Firearms Registry, which would prevent the person from licensing any other firearms.
WA police do not maintain a centralised record of court orders or court disqualifications under s27A of the Firearms Act 1973. Obtaining the information manually would take a significant amount of time and resources to collate and process. It is therefore not possible for WA Police to obtain this information without compromising core policing activities.
There is no automatic revocation of a firearms licence when a license holder has a violence restraining order issued against them.
Section 27A of the Firearms Act 1973 provides that:
(1) “A court making a violence restraining order against a person may order that, for the term set by the court or until a court orders to the contrary, the person be disqualified from holding any licence, permit, or approval, or any particular licence, permit, or approval under this Act.”
and
(4) “The court is to ensure that details of the restraining order and the disqualification order are known to the Commissioner as soon as practicable.”
When the court issues an order under s27A the following procedure applies: • WA Police would receive a notification from the Department of the Attorney General, Court and Tribunal Services; • WA Police would seize the firearm/s; • A note would be placed on the Firearms Registry, which would prevent the person from licensing any other firearms.
WA police do not maintain a centralised record of court orders or court disqualifications under s27A of the Firearms Act 1973. Obtaining the information manually would take a significant amount of time and resources to collate and process. It is therefore not possible for WA Police to obtain this information without compromising core policing activities.
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