❓ Hon. Louise Kingston questions the Minister for Police regarding changes to firearm licensing requirements, specifically property letters, and their impact on recreational shooters. The Minister responds, citing abuse of the previous system and ongoing consultations.
AnsweredQoN 168Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Firearms Act—Property letters
168. Hon Louise Kingston to the minister representing
the Minister for Police:
(1) What evidence informed the decision to tighten
the genuine need and property letter requirements, and has the government
assessed the impact of these reforms on licensed recreational and hunting
shooters?
(2) Can the minister clarify how many licensed
recreational shooters have been affected by property owners reaching the cap on
the number of letters they can issue?
(3) Will the minister consider a review of the
property letter system to ensure it does not unfairly disadvantage responsible
firearm owners, especially those in regional areas?
168. Hon Louise Kingston to the minister representing
the Minister for Police:
(1) What evidence informed the decision to tighten
the genuine need and property letter requirements, and has the government
assessed the impact of these reforms on licensed recreational and hunting
shooters?
(2) Can the minister clarify how many licensed
recreational shooters have been affected by property owners reaching the cap on
the number of letters they can issue?
(3) Will the minister consider a review of the
property letter system to ensure it does not unfairly disadvantage responsible
firearm owners, especially those in regional areas?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for some notice of the question. The Minister for Police has provided me with
the following response, which was correct as at the day of asking, being 1 May
2025.
(1) The state government and the Western Australia
Police Force became aware that a number of property letters had been sold by a
cohort of property owners under the previous system of demonstrating the
genuine reason for obtaining a firearms licence. This included eight properties
being responsible for supplying almost 15,000 licences by selling or issuing
letters to people right across Western Australia, many of whom were unaware of
the location of the properties and had no plans to undertake shooting activities
on the property that issued the letter.
(2) No registered property owner to date has
issued their full allocation of hunting permissions.
(3) The Minister for
Police advises that he has already begun to meet with a number of peak bodies
and associations to discuss the transition to the new legislation.
for some notice of the question. The Minister for Police has provided me with
the following response, which was correct as at the day of asking, being 1 May
2025.
(1) The state government and the Western Australia
Police Force became aware that a number of property letters had been sold by a
cohort of property owners under the previous system of demonstrating the
genuine reason for obtaining a firearms licence. This included eight properties
being responsible for supplying almost 15,000 licences by selling or issuing
letters to people right across Western Australia, many of whom were unaware of
the location of the properties and had no plans to undertake shooting activities
on the property that issued the letter.
(2) No registered property owner to date has
issued their full allocation of hunting permissions.
(3) The Minister for
Police advises that he has already begun to meet with a number of peak bodies
and associations to discuss the transition to the new legislation.
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