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FIREARMS ACT 1973 - SECT 8

FIREARMS ACT 1973 - SECT 8

8 .         Exemptions from licensing requirements

        (1)         No licence under this Act is required —

            (a)         by a person who is the holder of a permit issued under this Act in relation to any matter authorised by that permit;

            (b)         by the Governor;

        [(c)         deleted]

            (d)         by —

                  (i)         a member of the Police Force; or

                  (ii)         an employee of the Department,

                having a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition in their possession in preparation for, as a consequence of, or for use in, the performance of their duties;

            (e)         by a member of the armed forces of the Crown, or a member of any other disciplined force specified by the Governor for the purposes of this section by notice in the Gazette , having a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition in their possession for use in the performance of their duties;

            (f)         by a person permitted to do so under section 16D(4) by a body licensed by the Commissioner under section 16D who has a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition in the person’s possession, or carries or uses it, in accordance with that permission;

            (fa)         by a responsible person (as defined in section 33A(3)(b)) or an approved person (as defined in section 33A(3)(c)) who has a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition surrendered under section 33A(1)(b) in their possession, or carries it, in accordance with an approval given by the Commissioner under section 33A(2);

            (g)         by a person who is an approved commercial carrier or approved warehouseman, or by the servant of any such person, who in the ordinary course of their trade or business as an approved commercial carrier or approved warehouseman —

                  (i)         carries, and not by means of a bicycle or motor cycle, unless otherwise approved; or

                  (ii)         stores,

                a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition for another person;

            (h)         in relation to an approved firearm or ammunition for that firearm, by a person who in the ordinary course of their practice, trade or business uses that firearm for the purpose of dealing a blow to any animal with intent to slaughter it or to render the animal insensible prior to slaughtering;

                  (i)         by a person who is employed or contracted by, or is a family member (as defined in subsection (2)) of, a primary producer —

                  (i)         to possess or use for the purpose of destroying vermin, or stock required by that primary producer to be destroyed, on land used by that primary producer for the purposes of primary production, a firearm, major firearm part and ammunition belonging to and held by that primary producer under a licence or permit granted under this Act to the primary producer; or

                  (ii)         to possess such a firearm, major firearm part or ammunition while carrying it directly between 2 such pieces of land or directly between such land and any other place where it is authorised by law to be held,

                if the use of the firearm, major firearm part and ammunition by that person is expressly authorised by the primary producer;

            (j)         by a person who has in their possession or uses any firearm made or modified for signalling or life saving purposes in the course of rescue or attempted rescue operations or in rehearsal or training for such operations, or has in their possession or uses a major firearm part or ammunition for that firearm;

            (k)         by a person who has in their possession or uses for the purpose of starting races at any athletic or other sporting meeting an approved firearm or ammunition for that firearm belonging to, and held under a licence or permit granted under this Act by, another person with their permission;

            (l)         by a person who, as an employee or partner of the holder of a licence to conduct a shooting gallery, or as a customer of a shooting gallery being conducted pursuant to this Act, handles or uses a firearm or ammunition at that shooting gallery in accordance with the conditions, restrictions and limitations, if any, specified in the licence relating to that shooting gallery;

            (m)         by a person who, with the permission of the owner of the firearm on an approved range that is properly constructed and maintained, has in the person’s possession, handles or uses a firearm or ammunition for a firearm that is the property of, or is the property of a member of, an approved club or other approved organisation and is held by that owner under a licence or permit granted under this Act;

            (ma)         by a person who, at a venue that is approved and properly constructed and maintained for the playing of paintball, is in possession of, handles or uses a prescribed paintball gun or prescribed paintball pellets —

                  (i)         with the permission of the owner of the paintball gun; or

                  (ii)         if the owner of the paintball gun is an approved club or other approved organisation, as a member of that club or other organisation;

        [(mb)         deleted]

            (mc)         by a person who is in possession of, or carries, but does not use, an antique mechanism firearm or a major firearm part that forms part of that antique mechanism firearm;

            (n)         by a person under the age of 18 years who uses a firearm, not being a handgun, or ammunition for that firearm under the supervision of, and which is the property of, a person who is the holder of a licence or permit under this Act relating to that firearm.

        (2)         In subsection (1) —

        antique mechanism firearm means a muzzle loading firearm (including a percussion lock handgun that is muzzle loading) manufactured before 1900 that uses black powder to propel a shot, bullet, missile or other projectile except that it does not include a breech loading firearm, a firearm with revolving chambers or barrels, or a cannon;

        approved means approved by the Commissioner either generally by notice in the Gazette or specifically by notice in writing;

        family member , in relation to a person, means —

            (a)         the spouse or de facto partner of the person; or

            (b)         a parent, child, brother, or sister, of the person or of the person’s spouse or de facto partner; or

            (c)         the spouse or de facto partner of a person referred to in paragraph (b).

        [Section 8 amended: No. 59 of 1996 s. 8; No. 28 of 2003 s. 59; No. 69 of 2004 s. 5, 8(3) and 11; No. 13 of 2022 s. 12 and 66.]