South Australian Current Acts

FIREARMS ACT 2015 - SECT 44

44—Firearms prohibition order issued by Registrar

        (1)         The Registrar may issue a firearms prohibition order against a person if the Registrar is satisfied—

            (a)         that—

                  (i)         possession of a firearm by the person would be likely to result in undue danger to life or property; or

                  (ii)         the person is not a fit and proper person to possess a firearm,

and that it is in the public interest that a firearms prohibition order should apply to the person; or

            (b)         that the person—

                  (i)         is a member of, or a participant in, a criminal organisation; or

                  (ii)         has been a member of an organisation that, at the time the order is issued, is a criminal organisation; or

                  (iii)         is the subject of a control order under the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 .

        (2)         For the purposes of this Act, a firearms prohibition order applies to a person as soon as it is issued against the person, but the order only comes into force against the person when it is served personally on the person.

        (3)         A firearms prohibition order will be taken to be served personally on a person against whom an interim firearms prohibition order is in force if it is served by registered post on the person at the address for service notified to the Registrar by the person under section 43.

        (4)         If a police officer has reason to believe that a firearms prohibition order applies to a person, but the order has not been served on the person, the officer may—

            (a)         require the person to—

                  (i)         remain at a particular place for—

                        (A)         so long as may be necessary for the order to be served on the person; or

                        (B)         2 hours,

whichever is the lesser; or

                  (ii)         accompany the officer to the nearest police station for the order to be served; and

            (b)         if the person refuses or fails to comply with the requirement or the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the requirement will not be complied with, arrest and detain the person in custody (without warrant) for the period referred to in paragraph (a)(i).

        (5)         If a person accompanies a police officer to a police station in accordance with a requirement under subsection (4)(a)(ii), a police officer must ensure that the person is returned to the place at which the requirement was made, or taken to a place that is near to that place, unless to do so would be against the person's wishes or there is other good reason for not so doing.

        (6)         A firearms prohibition order served on a person must be accompanied by a notice setting out the Registrar's reasons for issuing the order.

        (7)         If the decision to issue the order was made because of information that is classified by the Registrar as criminal intelligence, the only reason required to be given is that the decision was made on public interest grounds.

        (8)         If a person against whom a firearms prohibition order is issued has not already done so, the person must, at the request of the Registrar or a police officer, notify the Registrar or officer of an address for service within 48 hours of the request.

Maximum penalty: $10 000.

        (9)         The Registrar may, on his or her own initiative or on application, revoke a firearms prohibition order by written notice served personally or by post on the person against whom it is issued.

        (10)         For the purposes of this section, a person is presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to be a member of a criminal organisation at a particular time if the person is, at that time, displaying (whether on an article of clothing, as a tattoo or otherwise) the insignia of that organisation.