New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FIREARMS ACT 1996 - SECT 30

30 General provisions relating to permits

(cf APMC 4 (a), (b), 1989 Act ss 35, 35A, 36, 38)

(1) An application for a permit must be made in an approved manner and the fee prescribed by the regulations for the application must be paid when the application is made or as otherwise approved.

(2) A permit is to be in a form approved by the Commissioner and contain such detail as may be prescribed by the regulations.

(3) The regulations may prescribe or provide for the Commissioner to impose or determine--

(a) conditions to which a permit is to be subject, and

(b) the period for which a permit is to be in force.

(3A) A permit that authorises a person to possess or use a firearm is automatically revoked if the holder of the permit becomes subject to a firearms prohibition order.

(4) A permit may be suspended or revoked by the Commissioner--

(a) for any reason for which a licence may be suspended or revoked under this Act, or

(b) for such other reasons as may be prescribed by the regulations.

(5) The suspension or revocation of a permit by the Commissioner takes effect when notice is served on the holder of the permit.

(6) If a permit is suspended, revoked or otherwise ceases to be in force, the person to whom it was issued must immediately surrender to a police officer--

(a) any firearm in respect of which the permit has been issued, and

(b) the permit.

Maximum penalty (subsection (6)): 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.

(7) A police officer is authorised to seize any firearm in respect of which a permit has been issued if the permit is suspended, revoked or otherwise ceases to be in force. A police officer is also authorised to seize the permit itself.

(7A) Subsections (6) and (7) do not apply in relation to a permit that has expired if the authority conferred by the permit continues to have effect (as provided by the regulations) pending the determination of an application for a subsequent permit.

(8) If a permit is being suspended because the Commissioner is satisfied that there may be grounds for revoking the permit under section 11 (5A), the notice suspending the permit is not required--

(a) to state the reasons for the suspension, or

(b) to include any request that the permit holder provide the Commissioner with reasons why the permit should not be revoked.

(9) If the Commissioner revokes a permit because the permit holder would be refused a permit on the grounds referred to in section 11 (5A), the Commissioner is not, under this or any other Act or law, required to give any reasons for revoking the permit on those grounds.

(10) Section 12 of the Criminal Records Act 1991 does not apply in relation to an application for a permit.