South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts14—Acquisition of firearms
(1) Subject to this
section, a person who—
(a)
acquires a firearm; or
(b)
knowingly takes part in the acquisition of a firearm,
without being authorised to acquire the firearm by a permit under this Part
(or under corresponding legislation in another State or Territory of the
Commonwealth) is guilty of an offence.
(2)
Subsection (1) does not apply to the acquisition of a firearm by a person
in the ordinary course of carrying on business as a licensed dealer pursuant
to the licence.
(3) It is a defence to
prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) to prove that—
(a) the
acquisition was in circumstances (prescribed by or under section 11) in
which the person who acquired the firearm was not required to hold a licence
authorising possession of the firearm; or
(b) the
owner of the firearm carried on a business and the firearm was temporarily
acquired for the purposes of the business from the owner by a person who
was—
(i)
the holder of a licence authorising the possession and
use of the firearm; and
(ii)
an employee, or in the case of a primary production
business, a relative, of the owner; or
(c) in
the case of a class A or B firearm or, subject to subsection (4), a class
H firearm, the acquisition was pursuant to a written agreement between the
owner of the firearm and the person who acquired the firearm that the person
would only use the firearm for a purpose or purposes specified in the
agreement and would return the firearm to the owner within 10 days; or
(d) the
acquisition was in circumstances prescribed for the purposes of this
subsection by regulation.
(4) The defence under
subsection (3)(c) is not available in the case of a class H
firearm—
(a)
if—
(i)
the person who acquired the firearm was the holder of a
shooting club member's licence; and
(ii)
the firearm—
(A) is a self-loading handgun (other than a
revolver) with a barrel length, as measured in accordance with the
regulations, of less than 120mm; or
(B) is a revolver or single shot handgun in
either case with a barrel length, as measured in accordance with the
regulations, of less than 100mm; or
(C) has a magazine or cylinder capacity of
more than 10 rounds or a modified magazine or cylinder capacity; or
(D) is of more than .38 calibre; or
(b) if
the person who acquired the firearm was the holder of a shooting club member's
licence and had held the licence for less than six months; or
(c)
if—
(i)
the person who acquired the firearm was the holder of a
shooting club member's licence and had held the licence for six months or more
but less than 12 months; and
(ii)
acquisition of the firearm resulted in the person having
possession of a class H firearm or class H firearms other than—
(A) one .177 calibre air pistol or one .22
calibre rim fire handgun (long rifle or short) or one centre fire handgun; or
(B) one .177 calibre air pistol and one .22
calibre rim fire handgun (long rifle or short); or
(C) one .177 calibre air pistol and one
centre fire handgun.
(5) For the purposes
of this section, a person takes part in the acquisition of a firearm if—
(a) the
person takes, or participates in, any step, or causes any step to be taken, in
the process of acquisition of the firearm; or
(b) the
person provides or arranges finance for any step in that process; or
(c) the
person provides the premises in which any step in that process is taken, or
suffers or permits any step in that process to be taken in premises of which
the person is an owner, lessee or occupier or of which the person has care,
control or management.
(6) Subject to
subsection (7), the maximum penalty for an offence against this section
is as follows:
(a)
where the firearm is a prescribed firearm—$75 000 or imprisonment for
15 years;
(b)
where the firearm is a class C, D or H firearm—$50 000 or imprisonment
for 10 years;
(c)
where the firearm is any other kind of firearm—$35 000 or imprisonment
for seven years.
(7) A person who has
not previously been found guilty of an offence against this section may, at
the discretion of the prosecutor, be prosecuted for a summary offence against
this section except where the firearm is a prescribed firearm, but on
conviction of a summary offence against this section the maximum penalty is
$10 000 or imprisonment for two years.