The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met in Canberra this month and agreed to place the shotguns into Category D, under the National Firearms Agreement (NFA), severely limiting its access to legal, licensed operators like farmers.

COAG also agreed to move lever-action shotguns with a capacity of less than five rounds into Category B.

Both weapons were previously available to gun owners with a Category A licence but were given the tighter re-classification in a review of the NFA.

Senator Williams said lever-action shotguns were a “tool of trade for farmers” in controlling feral pests like pigs, but the COAG decision was at odds with the weapon’s practical application.

However, he said the call was made by state governments, under the NFA, and it now had to be accepted.

“I think their rules are inconsistent; however, they make the rules and we live with them,” he said.

Senator Williams said he believed both the five- and seven-shot weapons should have been removed from Category A, which was the easiest gun licence to claim.

He said Category A accommodated single-barrel or double-barrel shotguns, and any weapons with more shots should not be placed in that category.

He agreed with re-classifying five-shot lever-action shotguns into Category B and believed the seven-shot should have also been placed in that same bracket, instead of Category D.

“As a farmer, I can go and get a 10-shot .44 Magnum repeater in Category B, so why can’t I get a seven-shot repeater shotgun? 

“I think it’s inconsistent, and putting the seven-shot into Category D makes it impossible to get one of those licences anyway.”

Senator Williams said putting the seven-shot weapon into Category D also made it a “far more stringent regulation” than being shifted into Category C.

“As a farmer, I can get a five-shot semi-automatic Browning shotgun in Category C and if I was a loose cannon and wanted to do some harm, I could do a lot more harm with a five-shot semi-automatic than I could with a seven-shot repeater,” he said. 

“I see the seven-shot as a tool of trade for farmers; especially when they get into helicopters … shooting (feral) pigs.”

Senator Williams said the Category D classification was also inconsistent because he could also purchase a 10-shot repeater .44 Magnum rifle, in Category B.

“Now if I was a bloody lunatic, I could harm more people with a 10-shot repeater high-powered rifle .44 Magnum than I could with a seven-shot shotgun,” he said.

“The only big difference is with a shotgun at close range you can’t miss, whereas shooting with a rifle at a distance you can miss.”

Senator Williams said legal firearms owners were being punished by COAG’s tight re-classification, instead of tackling the real, core issue.

“The whole point here is that 97 per cent of crimes are committed with a gun, pistol or rifle illegally obtained on the black market and 3 per cent are from legally owned weapons,” he said.

“Doesn’t that tell us clearly the problem we have with the threat to human beings and their safety is not from those law-abiding gun owners, but instead from the black market?”

Senator Williams said he backed the passage of new federal legislation that would implement a minimum mandatory penalty of five years’ jail for illegally trafficking weapons.

“The sooner we do that, the better, because for too long with this whole gun debate we’ve focused on innocent people and not on the crooks,” he said.

“We have all sorts of laws because of minorities that cause problems, but I’ve never heard of a problem with a seven-shot Adler.

“I’ve never heard of a shoot-up, a murder, or whatever; I don’t believe there’s even been one.

“There’s just been these comments by some people saying, ‘Oh, it’s a rapid-fire gun that can cause so much damage’ – but you can get the same (type of weapon) in Category B now.

“I’ve had guns and rifles all my life but get annoyed when we target the biggest effect on the huge majority of innocent people, but … that’s what happens with virtually all laws.

“We have speed limits because some people want to drive down the road at 180 kilometres per hour and that’s probably a very small minority, and hence the speed limit is 100 kilometres (per hour) in most places.”

Senator Williams said he believed the farm sector was more likely to be upset at the core principle of COAG’s reclassification decision, where “innocent people now have stricter regulations”.

“I have no problem with the five-shot being in Category B – I think the five-shot being in category A is too simple,” he said.

“Category A has low-powered rifles, air rifles and starting pistols, rim fire .22s and shotguns.

“If you were to shoot at me with a shotgun from 400 metres away, you haven’t got a hope in hell of hitting me – you’ve run out of puff by then.

“It’s a bit different with a .243 or a .270 (rifle) or a high-powered rifle, which are in Category B, so I think it’s a good decision to pull them out of Category A.

“But I just think the seven-shot should have been in Category B as well – however, I’ll live with their decisions.”

The NSW government says it intends to introduce a grandfather provision to allow current licence holders of over-five-round lever-action shotguns to keep their firearms under a Category B licence.

Upon renewal, that licence would continue to be issued as a Category B but would allow the possession of that particular firearm, of more than five rounds.

But in the event that such a firearm was sold, it would be sold as a Category D.

If the licence holder sought to purchase a new lever-action shotgun, they would then need to meet the genuine reasons for Category D and be approved to obtain a Category D licence.

All current Category A licence holders with lever-action shotguns who do not have a Category B licence will be issued a Category B licence at no initial cost.

It is intended to include a transition period to allow the necessary administrative arrangements to be put in place.