The seven-shot Adler shotgun is currently banned from Australia until the states and territories can come to an agreement about how to classify the gun, and what sort of permit a gun-owner would require to use the weapon.

NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant has thrown his support behind lifting the ban and re-classifying the shotgun from a category A to a category B, ensuring those who wanted to import the gun could do so as long as they state a specific purpose such as shooting feral pigs. There has been disagreement about how the Adler gun should be classified because it can fire seven shot rounds.

Stewart Hughes, a farmer 80km from Moree, said he is in favour of lifting the ban on Adler imports, but doesn’t see a reason why someone would need a seven-round shotgun unless they were a professional shooter.

“I’m not a fan of the government banning anything unless it’s going to do someone physical or mental harm,” Mr Hughes said. “Certain sorts of weapons need to be banned, absolutely … but I’m a big fan of the Adler gun being re-classified.”

Mr Hughes believes the gun should be classified as a category D, making it “pretty tough” for anyone to get their hands on.

“The biggest threat I see by this type of firearm is theft,” he said.

“Say I had a category D licence and had one of these. The threat would not be from me, it’d be from the person who stole it from me.”

As a farmer and recreational shooter, Mr Hughes believes there is no need for a farmer to have a rapid-fire seven-shot gun.

“If you need another three rounds then you’re probably not that good of a shot,” he said. “If you’ve got a problem with feral pigs, having an extra three shots, is not going to solve your problem. We bait, we trap, rip and destroy nests and use all these different things together. Just shooting alone isn’t going to do it.”

The NSW Cabinet is expected to come to a decision today.