WA Police officers raise alarm gun buyback could help flood black market with illegal high-calibre ammunition

WA Police fear hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition could be sold on the black market when more than 50 models of high-powered firearms and 19 calibres of ammunition become outlawed next month. A $1.5 million buyback of the soon-to-be-banned firearms — as part of the WA Government’s overhaul of its outdated firearm laws in the wake of the brazen public assassination of bikie chief Nick Martin with a sniper rifle in December 2020 — does not include ammunition. Gun owners who surrender their weapons will be compensated but not for the bullets they hand-in to police. Despite the concerns of law-abiding gun owners there are no plans to purchase the ammunition, which unscrupulous gun owners may be tempted to cash in on illegally. Police have told The Sunday Times they are “concerned” this cache of prohibited ammunition could fuel a lucrative black market trade. The buyback — announced in February — comes as the Government is expected to put a drastic rewrite of the Firearms Act before the WA Parliament in November. It will include mental health checks for licensed firearm holders and a change to the current property letter system that allows rural property owners to sell letters in support of gun licence applications for people they have never met by affirming they use the property for shooting. “Selling ammunition illegally is a serious offence and will be prosecuted,” a police spokesperson said. “Currently, anyone with a gun licence in WA can buy any type of ammunition for firearms they are licensed to possess in any quantity they want. “WA Police are concerned about legally purchased ammunition being sold on the black market to criminals, which is why we have asked the State Government to see if specific improvements can be made during the current firearm law reform processes.” WA Police outlined that firearm owners have the option to hand in or sell their ammunition interstate, but firearm owners say the process was expensive because few companies transported the dangerous goods interstate. Beaton Firearms in Maddington is managed by Zaine Beaton, who said the buyback’s success relied entirely on the honesty of gun owners. “As a business owner, I’ll probably have to give back $18,000 worth of ammunition to police,” he said. “I’m certain there are people out there who will sell it to each other just because the Government isn’t paying them for it.” One licensed firearm owner who didn’t wish to be named said he had “$190,000 worth of .416 ammunition” before he returned it to police. “If this is really an issue of public safety, they (the authorities) would have bought the ammunition. It doesn’t increase the safety of anyone in the community: not at all,” he said. Mr Beaton said gun owners were modifying their firearms to comply with the new regulations, meaning fewer guns are being surrendered. A stated aim of the reforms was to reduce the number of firearms in WA homes. Some of cartridges being banned have “armour-piercing” capabilities, yet several similar cartridges to those banned will still be available from July 1. A .28 Nosler cartridge — which is used for long-range hunting — is prohibited, while the similar sized .30 Nosler cartridge is not. In another twist, the rifle Martin’s killer used — a Tikka T3x and the .308 calibre ammunition it uses — will not be banned. Police Minister Paul Papalia said there would be no changes to the buyback scheme to include ammunition. “I would be extremely concerned if law-abiding West Australians attempt to sell anything on the black market and expect WA police will be actively pursuing all illegal behaviour, particularly relating to the misuse of firearms or ammunition,” he said. Mr Beaton said the reform “does not make sense” considering the Government claimed the prohibition was to increase public safety. “You can clearly demonstrate that this has nothing to do with public safety. It’s just arbitrarily targeting certain cartridges for the sake of some publicity,” he said. The buyback also does not include common hunting rifles, such as the one fired by the teen accused of the school shooting at Atlantis Beach Baptist College at Two Rocks last month. The rifle the boy fired — the Savage Axis .243 — is one of the most commonly owned rifles in Australia. Police said they would be keeping tabs on licensed high-powered firearm owners in the upcoming ban. “The WA Police Force maintain a constant zero-tolerance policy for unlicensed firearms. As publicly stated, the WA Police Force will follow up with owners who have chosen not to surrender the firearms on the new banned list, in order to ensure they have been disposed of legally,” a spokesperson said. “The WA Police Force has requested the State Government ban very high-powered firearms. A number of these firearms, in specific combination with certain types of ammunition, can pierce body armour and in some instances vehicles or armour plating. Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia WA president Paul Fitzgerald said “firearms and ammunition are useless without one another… why is it that the Government hasn’t purchased it?”