South Australian Consolidated Acts

FIREARMS ACT 1977 - SECT 5

5—Interpretation

        (1)         In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

"to acquire" means to acquire through purchase, gift, loan or hire;

"active member" of a club for a 12 month period means—

            (a)         in relation to a collectors' club—

                  (i)         a member of the club who has attended four or more meetings of the club during the 12 months; or

                  (ii)         a member of the club who has made a personal contribution (not being a financial contribution) to the club during the 12 months in a manner and to an extent that satisfies the Registrar that he or she should be regarded as an active member of the club; or

            (b)         in relation to a shooting club and the holder of a firearms licence authorising possession of class H firearms—

                  (i)         a member of the club who has participated in shooting club organised competitive shooting matches for class H firearms on at least six occasions during the 12 months; or

                  (ii)         a member of the club who satisfies the Registrar that the member failed to meet the requirements of subparagraph (i), during the 12 months, due to the member's ill health or employment obligations or some other reason accepted by the Registrar;

"air gun" means a firearm (other than a rifle or handgun) designed to fire shot, bullets or other projectiles by means of compressed air or other compressed gas and not by means of burning propellant;

"air rifle" means a rifle designed to be carried by hand and to fire shot, bullets or other projectiles by means of compressed air or other compressed gas and not by means of burning propellant;

"ammunition" means ammunition suitable for use in a firearm and includes primers and propellant;

"antique firearm" means a firearm that—

            (a)         was manufactured before 1900; and

            (b)         is kept solely for curiosity, display or ornamental purposes; and

            (c)         is not used to fire projectiles; and

            (d)         —

                  (i)         in the case of a firearm other than a class H firearm—

                        (A)         is designed to fire breech loading cartridges and is not a firearm for which live rounds of ammunition are commercially manufactured factory loaded; or

                        (B)         is not designed to fire breech loading cartridges; or

                  (ii)         in the case of a class H firearm—is a handgun designed or altered to fire by means of a flintlock, matchlock, wheel-lock or other system used prior to the use of percussion caps as a means of ignition,

and includes a receiver of such a firearm;

"automatic firearm" means a firearm that is designed to fire a round when the trigger is brought to the firing position and to continue to fire one or more rounds automatically while the trigger is held in that position;

"capacity of a magazine"—see subsection (2);

"carry on a business"—see subsections (3) to (6) and (9);

"class A firearms" means—

            (a)         air rifles, air guns and paint-ball firearms; and

            (b)         .22 rim fire rifles (not being self-loading rifles); and

            (c)         single or double barrel shotguns (not being self-loading or pump action shotguns),

and includes receivers of firearms defined as class A firearms by a preceding paragraph;

"class B firearms" means—

            (a)         muzzle loading firearms (not being handguns); and

            (b)         revolving chamber rifles; and

            (c)         centre fire rifles (not being self-loading centre fire rifles); and

            (ca)         double barrel centre fire rifles that are not designed to hold additional rounds in a magazine; and

            (d)         break action combination shotguns and rifles; and

            (e)         all other firearms (not being prescribed firearms, handguns, self-loading firearms or pump action shotguns) that are not class A firearms,

and includes receivers of firearms defined as class B firearms by a preceding paragraph;

"class C firearms" means—

            (a)         self-loading rim fire rifles having a magazine capacity of 10 rounds or less; and

            (b)         self-loading shotguns having a magazine capacity of five rounds or less; and

            (c)         pump action shotguns having a magazine capacity of five rounds or less,

and includes receivers of firearms defined as class C firearms by a preceding paragraph but does not include revolving chamber rifles or receivers of revolving chamber rifles;

"class D firearms" means—

            (a)         self-loading rim fire rifles having a magazine capacity of more than 10 rounds; and

            (b)         self-loading centre fire rifles; and

            (c)         self-loading shotguns having a magazine capacity of more than five rounds; and

            (d)         pump action shotguns having a magazine capacity of more than five rounds,

and includes receivers of firearms defined as class D firearms by a preceding paragraph but does not include revolving chamber rifles or receivers of revolving chamber rifles;

"class H firearms" means handguns;

"close associate" of an applicant for or the holder of a dealer's licence—see subsection (1a);

"collectors' club" means a recognised firearms club that—

            (a)         has been established to foster the interests of persons who collect and display firearms; and

            (b)         does not include as part of its regular activities the shooting of firearms;

"collector's licence" means a firearms licence that is endorsed with the purpose of collecting and displaying firearms;

"commercial range operator" means a person who carries on the business of providing—

            (a)         a shooting range (not being a shooting gallery) for use by members of the public; and

            (b)         firearms for use by members of the public at the range;

"the Commissioner of Police" means the person for the time being holding, or acting in, the office of Commissioner of Police;

"criminal intelligence" means information relating to actual or suspected criminal activity (whether in this State or elsewhere) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice criminal investigations, or to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement;

"dealer" means a person—

            (a)         who carries on the business of manufacturing, repairing, modifying or testing firearms; or

            (b)         who carries on the business of buying, selling or hiring out, firearms, firearm parts or ammunition; or

            (c)         who carries on the business of a pawnbroker or auctioneer and handles firearms, firearm parts or ammunition in the course of that business,

and "dealing" has a corresponding meaning;

"dealer's licence" means a dealer's licence granted under this Act;

"District Court" means the Administrative and Disciplinary Division of the District Court;

"domestic partner" means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the Family Relationships Act 1975 , whether declared as such under that Act or not;

"firearm" means—

            (a)         a device designed to be carried by hand and to fire shot, bullets or other projectiles by means of burning propellant or by means of compressed air or other compressed gas; or

            (c)         a device of a kind declared by regulation to be a firearm for the purposes of this Act,

and includes a receiver of a firearm and any device which, if in working order, would be a firearm within the meaning of this definition (except such a device that has been rendered unusable in a manner stipulated in the regulations or by the Registrar) but does not include an antique firearm, or a device of a kind excluded by regulation from the provisions of this Act;

"firearm part" for a firearm means a barrel, trigger mechanism, magazine, cylinder, hammer, bolt, breech block or slide designed as, or reasonably capable of forming, part of the firearm;

"firearms club" means a club for the benefit of enthusiasts who are interested in firearms generally or in a particular class of firearms;

"firearms licence" means a firearms licence granted under this Act and includes a firearms permit;

"firearms permit" means a permit referred to in section 12(4);

"firearms prohibition order" means an order issued under Part 2A (including an interim firearms prohibition order);

"Firearms Review Committee" or "committee" means the Firearms Review Committee established under this Act;

"firing mechanism" of a firearm means the mechanism of the firearm that is designed for the purpose of firing the firearm;

"fit and proper person"—see subsections (10) to (13) and section 6B(2);

"to give" a firearm means to transfer ownership of the firearm to another person as a gift and includes transfer of the ownership of a firearm to a beneficiary of a deceased estate by the executor or administrator in the distribution of the estate;

"grounds of a recognised firearms club"—see subsection (7);

"grounds of a recognised paint-ball operator"—see subsection (8);

"handgun" means a firearm the barrel of which is less than 400 millimetres in length and that is designed or adapted for aiming and firing from the hand and is reasonably capable of being carried concealed about the person and includes a receiver of such a firearm;

"interim firearms prohibition order"—see section 10A;

"licence" means a firearms licence or a dealer's licence;

"licence year" of a licence means the 12 months from the beginning of the term of the licence, or, if the term of the licence exceeds 12 months, the succeeding period or each succeeding period of 12 months during the term of the licence;

"licensed dealer" in firearms or ammunition means a person who is licensed under this Act or a corresponding enactment of another State or Territory of the Commonwealth to carry on the business of dealing in firearms or ammunition;

"loading mechanism" of a firearm means all the parts of the firearm (except the barrel) that are designed to place or hold or to place and hold a round in position for firing and includes the magazine of the firearm (if any);

"the Minister" means the Minister of the Crown to whom the administration of this Act is for the time being committed by the Governor and includes any other Minister of the Crown for the time being discharging the duties of that Minister;

"owner" of a firearm includes—

            (a)         the executor or administrator of a deceased estate that includes a firearm; and

            (b)         the administrator or manager of the estate of a person who is unable to manage his or her affairs if the estate includes a firearm; and

            (c)         the donee of an enduring power of attorney during a period of legal incapacity suffered by the donor of the power if the donor is the owner of a firearm; and

            (d)         the Official Trustee or the registered trustee of a bankrupt estate that includes a firearm;

"paint-ball firearm" means an air gun designed to fire a projectile containing dye, paint or other marking substance;

"paint-ball operator" means a person or body who provides or arranges for the provision of grounds for use by participants in an organised activity involving the use of paint-ball firearms (but not involving the use of any other firearms);

"possession of a firearm"—see subsections (14) and (15);

"prescribed firearm" means a firearm of a class prescribed by regulation for the purposes of this definition;

"pump action shotgun" means a shotgun that is reloaded manually by moving the forward hand grip which is part of the loading mechanism of the gun backwards and then forwards;

"to purchase" includes to acquire by barter or exchange;

"receiver" of a firearm means the body or frame of the firearm that is designed to hold the firing mechanism or the loading mechanism or both in place but does not include the stock or barrel of the firearm;

"recognised commercial range operator" means a commercial range operator declared to be a recognised commercial range operator by the Minister pursuant to this Act;

"recognised firearms club" means a firearms club declared to be a recognised firearms club by the Minister pursuant to this Act;

"recognised paint-ball operator" means a paint-ball operator declared to be a recognised paint-ball operator by the Minister pursuant to this Act;

"the Registrar" means the Registrar of Firearms;

"relative" in relation to a person means the spouse, domestic partner, parent or remoter lineal ancestor, son, daughter or remoter issue or brother or sister of the person;

"rifle" includes a receiver of a rifle;

"round" means a projectile and propellant whether held together by a cartridge or not;

"self-loading firearm" means—

            (a)         a firearm that is designed to fire a round when the trigger is brought to the firing position and to continue to fire one or more rounds by releasing the trigger and returning it to the firing position to fire each additional round; but

            (b)         does not include a double barrel shotgun that is not designed to hold additional rounds in a magazine;

"to sell" includes to dispose of by barter or exchange;

"shooting club" means a recognised firearms club that includes amongst its regular activities the shooting of firearms;

"shooting club member's licence" means a firearms licence that is endorsed with the purpose of using a firearm as a member of a shooting club;

"shooting gallery" means an indoor or outdoor gallery at which members of the public can use .177 calibre air guns or air rifles (but not paint-ball firearms) that are attached to a shooting bench to shoot at stationary or moving targets;

"shotgun" includes a receiver of a shotgun;

"silencer" means a device designed to be attached to or comprising part of a firearm to muffle the report when the firearm is fired;

"spouse"—a person is the spouse of another if they are legally married;

"to supply" means to supply through sale, gift, loan or hire.

        (1a)         For the purposes of this Act, 2 persons are "close associates if—

            (a)         1 is a relative of the other; or

            (b)         they are in partnership; or

            (c)         they are related bodies corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth; or

            (d)         1 is a body corporate and the other is a director, manager, secretary or public officer of the body corporate; or

            (e)         1 is a body corporate (other than a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange) and the other is a shareholder in the body corporate; or

            (f)         1 is a trustee of a trust and the other is a beneficiary of the trust or, in the case of a discretionary trust, an object of the trust; or

            (g)         1 has a right to participate, or participates, (otherwise than as a shareholder in a body corporate) in income or profits derived from a business conducted by the other; or

            (h)         1 is in a position to exercise, or exercises, control or significant influence over the conduct of the other.

        (2)         For the purposes of this Act the capacity of a magazine that has been modified to reduce its capacity will only be regarded as having the reduced capacity, instead of its capacity as manufactured, if it has been modified in a manner approved by the Registrar.

        (3)         A person who purchases or sells more than 20 firearms or more than 20 firearm parts in any 12 month period will, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to be carrying on the business of dealing in firearms or firearm parts in respect of the firearms or firearm parts purchased or sold in excess of 20 in that period unless he or she establishes on the balance of probabilities that he or she was not carrying on such a business.

        (4)         Subsection (3) does not apply if all the firearms purchased or sold in a 12 month period were the subject of one transaction or two or more transactions entered into on the same day at an auction.

        (5)         A person who purchases or sells more than 50 000 rounds of ammunition in any 12 month period will, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to be carrying on the business of dealing in ammunition in respect of the ammunition purchased or sold in excess of 50 000 rounds in that period unless he or she establishes on the balance of probabilities that he or she was not carrying on such a business.

        (6)         Subsection (5) does not apply—

            (a)         in relation to a recognised firearms club;

            (ab)         to the purchase or sale by a recognised paint-ball operator of ammunition suitable for use in paint-ball firearms;

            (b)         if all the ammunition purchased or sold in a 12 month period was the subject of one transaction or two or more transactions entered into on the same day at an auction.

        (7)         For the purposes of this Act, any grounds provided or arranged to be provided by or on behalf of a recognised firearms club for use by members of the club will be taken to be grounds of the club.

        (8)         For the purposes of this Act, any grounds provided or arranged to be provided by or on behalf of a recognised paint-ball operator for use by participants in an organised activity involving the use of paint-ball firearms will be taken to be grounds of the operator.

        (9)         A reference in this Act to a person who carries on the business of primary production includes—

            (a)         where the business is carried on by a company—a director of the company; and

            (b)         the person (if any) employed to manage the business,

if the director or manager resides on or near the land on which the business is carried on or visits the land frequently for the purposes of the business.

        (10)         For the purposes of this Act a person who has a mental or physical condition that would make it unsafe for him or her to possess a firearm or ammunition must be taken not to be a fit and proper person to have possession of a firearm or ammunition or to hold or have possession of a licence.

        (11)         For the purposes of this Act a person may be taken not to be a fit and proper person to have possession of a firearm or ammunition or to hold or have possession of a licence if the person—

            (a)         has not complied with the requirements of this Act in relation to the safe handling, carriage or use of firearms; or

            (b)         has been found guilty of an offence against this Act or corresponding legislation of another State or Territory of the Commonwealth; or

            (c)         has been found guilty of an offence involving actual or threatened violence in this State or any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth or in any other part of the world; or

            (ca)         has been found guilty of an offence prescribed by regulation; or

            (d)         has been guilty of fraud or deception for the purpose of obtaining a licence or permit under this Act or under corresponding legislation in another State or Territory of the Commonwealth; or

            (e)         is the subject, or has in the past been the subject, of a domestic violence restraining order under the Domestic Violence Act 1994 or any other order of a similar nature made by a court whether in this State or any other State or Territory of the Commonwealth.

        (12)         Subsection (11) does not limit the grounds on which a person may be taken not to be a fit and proper person for the purposes of this Act.

        (13)         In deciding whether a person is a "fit and proper person" to have possession of a firearm or ammunition or to hold or have possession of a licence for the purposes of this Act, regard may be had to the reputation, honesty and integrity of the person and of people with whom the person associates.

        (14)         For the purposes of this Act (other than Part 3 Division 2A), a person has "possession of a firearm" if—

            (a)         the person has custody of the firearm or has the firearm in the custody of another; or

            (b)         the person has and exercises access to the firearm; or

            (c)         the person occupies, or has care, control or management of, premises, or is in charge of a vehicle, vessel or aircraft, where the firearm is found.

        (15)         However, subsection (14)(c) does not apply if the person establishes that—

            (a)         he or she did not know, and could not reasonably be expected to have known, that the firearm was on or in the premises, vehicle, vessel or aircraft; or

            (b)         the firearm was in the lawful possession of another or he or she believed on reasonable grounds that the firearm was in the lawful possession of another.