Frustrations mount as WA farmers struggle to register their firearms amid a litany of online portal issues

WA’s overhauled gun laws are in the firing line with farmers struggling to register their firearms through an online portal system they say is complicating an already “shambolic process”. The State’s 90,000 gun owners are midway through a 90 day transition period designed to give them time to comply with the Labor’s new gun laws — the strictest in the country — which came into effect on March 31. But farmers Countryman spoke to this week detailed the difficulty they were having trying to register their firearms by using the State government’s new online registration portal. Some have struggled to fit their property ownership status and numbers into the prescribed categories into the portal, while others have found it is unable to recognise lot numbers or green numbers of rural properties. Another major issue is that the system fails to take into account cases where several family members are listed under the property or the title is listed under a property trust or a company. Others have struggled to obtain the internet connection, don’t have the digital literacy level required to complete the online-only process or are battling to navigate the system errors and confusing language. And some have found it nearly impossible to wrap their head around the laws’ complicated new gun storage requirements and the cost of implementing them. Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA president Tony Seabrook said the shambolic new gun law system has been a nightmare for farmers who did not have the time to navigate the “unworkable” system. “The whole system is not working — it’s clumsy, it’s clunky, it’s not working,” he said. Esperance farmer Greg Curnow has been working through the online portal in the last few days but said he came to a stalemate when he realised he could not successfully register his property. “The system wouldn’t recognise lot or lot numbers and doesn’t recognise our green number at the front gate,” he said. “We’ve had email confirmation they have received our complaint. We’re just hoping it gets resolved before we’re left wondering if we are all going to be breaking the law.” WA Premier Roger Cook announced the 90-day transition period on March 31, insisting safety — not punishment — was the primary objective of new gun laws that came into effect the next day. The overhaul of the State’s Firearms Act was designed to make it harder to get licences by requiring stronger evidence of why firearms are needed, and introduced eight new license categories with a cap on the number of firearms an individual can own. Under the laws, most individuals can own up to five firearms, with primary producers able to be licensed for up to 10. WA Police in April promised to contact “each and every” firearm licence holder in WA to provide “specific compliance instructions” about how many guns they can own, written authority and storage requirements. But Mr Seabrook said many farmers were struggling to come to terms with the cost of the updated gun storage requirements, which for him has cost upwards of $5000. The WA Government says 90 per cent of licenced firearm owners would not need to upgrade their storage because they own less than five guns. Mr Seabrook said he recently received a letter from the Firearms Act Reform Project Team — WA Police’s dedicated transition team — regarding his licence expiry. The document contained more than 13 pages, which Mr Seabrook described as an “unnecessary legislative burden”. WAFarmers president Steve McGuire described the new gun laws and online portal a “frustrating shambles”, while Liberal MLC Steve Thomas said the online process was “immensely problematic” for a number of people. “There’s access issues in general — if there’s a decimal wrong in a land title somewhere in the Government’s system, it’ll hold you up,” he said. “All of these process things are diabolically bad for applicants and that’s before you get to the issues around where the rules are simply wrong, where the rules start.” Mr Thomas said he has tabled a motion in parliament to disallow the regulations, alongside Legalise Cannabis MLC Brian Walker. “This has to be a public campaign to get the government to acknowledge the system is horrendous,” he said. “Their socialist agenda and utopia of disarming as many people as they can... is actually hurting people. “If they’re not going to change the system they’ve put in place and get rid of it, at least try and make it better. “I’m happy to work with the new Police Minister, Reece Whitby, to make it better because that’s, in my view, the only hope we have.” WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said the changes were not being made to “punish law-abiding gun owners”. “They are being made to make WA safe,” he said. “I am having constructive discussions with a range of stakeholders and will continue to consider and understand their concerns.” The WA Government has pledged to contact every WA firearm holder to “walk through the obligations”. Gunowners have been assured their licence will remain operational until renewal date, at which time firearm owners will have 90 days to transition to the new licencing system. STATE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE