Objectives

What is the objective of the legislation?

The overriding objective of the Weapons Act 1990 is to prevent the misuse of weapons. This is achieved through legislation that controls access, possession and usage of weapons.

These resolutions can be described in broad groups as seeking to implement legislation which:

• prohibits semi-automatic and military style weapons;
• puts in place a national scheme for the registration of all firearms;
• requires a person to demonstrate a genuine reason to possess or use a firearm before a licence may be issued to that person and in certain cases demonstrate a genuine need to possess or use particular firearms;
• creates uniform licensing requirements across all jurisdictions; makes training a prerequisite for obtaining a firearms licence;
• creates common grounds for the refusal or revocation of a licence; requires a licensee to obtain a permit prior to acquiring any firearm;
• introduces uniform standards for the secure storage of firearms;
• restricts mail order purchases of firearms to licensed dealers.

Means of Achieving Policy Objectives

The policy objectives are achieved by a licensing scheme based on a range of licence types and weapons categories. An authorised police officer has the authority to issue to a person one of a range of licence types. The licence may be endorsed with one or more categories of weapons. The authorised officer also has the discretion to impose a range of conditions on the licence should there be a need.

The Weapons Regulation 1996 that accompanies the Weapons Act 1990 outlines limitations on the eligibility of persons to be issued with a certain licence and supplements the conditions under which a licence of a particular type will be issued. Weapon categories are fully defined in the Weapons Categories Regulation 1997.

Ten important things to know about the Queensland gun laws

• Persons wishing to possess or use a weapon must have a licence (there are some exceptions).
• A licence may be issued to an individual or a body.
• You must have a genuine reason to own a weapon - this includes being a member of a shooting club, being a recreational shooter, being a collector or having an occupational requirement.
• Persons applying for their first licence or for a licence of another category of weapon are required to complete a weapons safety course.
• You must have secure storage for your weapons.
• Weapons must be registered to a licence. As long as you have the appropriate licence, there is no restriction on the number of weapons you can own (except under collector heirloom licence and the first year of a concealable sports/target shooters licence).
• Registering new weapons to your licence will cost a one-off fee for each firearm.
• Some weapons are restricted and must be handed in or made permanently inoperable.
• All applications for a licence or permit to acquire must be lodged in person at your local police station.
• Any change of address or circumstance must be reported to an Officer in Charge of Police within 14 days of the change.