Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) A member of the
Police Force may demand from any person in possession of a firearm or
ammunition —
(a) the
licence or permit under which he is authorised to have such possession; or
(b)
evidence that he is authorised to have such possession otherwise than under a
licence or permit or is exempt under section 8 from the requirement to
hold a licence under this Act; and
(c) if
the licence or permit, or the authorisation or exemption, is such that the
person in possession of the firearm or ammunition should also be in possession
of an Extract of Licence in respect of that licence, permit, authorisation, or
exemption, that Extract of Licence,
and where no such
licence or permit, or no relevant Extract of Licence, is produced or the
officer is not satisfied that the possession is otherwise authorised he may
seize and take possession of that firearm or ammunition.
(2) A member of the
Police Force may seize and take possession of any firearm or ammunition that
is in the possession of a person, whether or not the person is licensed or
otherwise authorised to possess it if, in the opinion of the member of the
Police Force —
(a)
possession of it by that person may result in harm being suffered by any
person; or
(b) that
person is not at the time a fit and proper person to be in possession of it.
(2a) For the purpose
of exercising the powers given by subsection (2), a member of the Police
Force may enter and search any premises on which, in the opinion of the member
of the Police Force, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that any firearm
or ammunition may be found in the possession of a person in the circumstances
described in that subsection.
(3) A member of the
Police Force may require any person to permit him to examine a firearm in the
possession of that person and if, in the opinion of the officer, any such
firearm, the possession of which is not authorised under a Firearm
Collector’s Licence, is unsafe or unserviceable the officer may seize
and take possession of it.
(4) A member of the
Police Force may —
(a)
question any person who is suspected on reasonable grounds of being able to
furnish information or evidence relating to an offence or suspected offence
under this Act;
(b)
stop, search, and detain —
(i)
any person who is suspected on reasonable grounds of
having a firearm or ammunition in his possession without lawful excuse;
(ii)
any vehicle or conveyance where there are reasonable
grounds to suspect that a firearm is kept without lawful excuse;
(c)
arrest any person who is suspected on reasonable grounds of committing an
offence under this Act.
(5) Any firearm or
ammunition seized and any person arrested under the provisions of
subsection (1) shall be dealt with according to law.
(6) A person
who —
(a)
refuses or fails without lawful excuse to answer any question put by a member
of the Police Force under this Act;
(b)
wilfully misleads or wilfully attempts to mislead any member of the Police
Force in any particular likely to affect the discharge of his duty under this
Act;
(c)
refuses or fails to produce any licence or permit held by him under this Act,
or any firearm in respect of which any such licence or permit is issued, or
any Extract of Licence issued in respect of any such licence or permit or in
respect of any exemption or other authorisation, within reasonable time after
demand made by a member of the Police Force,
commits an offence and
is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $4 000.
(7) The powers given
by this section to a member of the Police Force may be exercised without
warrant except that the powers given by subsection (2a) can only be
exercised without warrant if the member of the Police Force —
(a) is
reasonably of the opinion that —
(i)
there is an immediate threat of harm being suffered by a
person; and
(ii)
the delay that would be involved in obtaining a warrant
would be likely to increase the risk or extent of such harm;
and
(b)
gives the Commissioner, after the powers are exercised, a written report
explaining the reason for that opinion.
(8) The regulations
may make provision as to —
(a) the
giving of the report required by subsection (7)(b);
(b) the
steps that are required to be taken after any firearm or ammunition has been
seized and taken under subsection (2).
(9) For the purposes
of this section the term firearm is deemed to include any silencer, within the
meaning of section 17B(8), and any part of a firearm.
[Section 24 amended by No. 61 of 1976
s. 5; No. 54 of 1978 s. 4; No. 70 of 1987 s. 9;
No. 90 of 1994 s. 5; No. 59 of 1996 s. 27, 42 and 50(2);
No. 69 of 2004 s. 31; No. 59 of 2006 s. 73.]