National firearms agreement finalised by Council of Australian Governments in February and published but not officially announced

Australia’s federal and state governments have quietly amended the national firearms agreement in a move that could pave the way for the removal of the import ban on the controversial Adler A110 and other lever-action shotguns.

The federal government has been undertaking a review of the 1996 firearms agreement that was put in place after the Port Arthur massacre, prompted in part by the Martin Place siege.

A controversial element of the agreement was the classification of lever-action shotguns, particularly the Adler A110 shotgun. The government introduced an import ban on the weapon, sparking intense lobbying efforts from firearms organisations. The ban also caused tensions between the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and his predecessor Tony Abbott, and a rift within Coalition ranks.

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Despite the political furore around it, the 2017 national firearms agreement was finalised by the Council of Australian Governments in February and quietly posted on the attorney general’s website. It has not been officially announced by George Brandis or the justice minister, Michael Keenan.

Lever-action shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than five rounds, including the Adler A110, have been moved to category D which will restrict their access. But lever-action shotguns with less than five rounds will remain far more easily accessible to shooters and will only be listed as category B.

The agreement also outlines a number of weapons that will be subject to import restrictions but omits any reference to lever-action shotguns.

The omission appears to suggest the federal government will either amend the regulations to remove lever-action shotguns from the import ban, or will allow the regulation to expire, either of which would pave the way for firearms companies to recommence importing the Adler A110.

Other changes set out in the firearms agreement include expanding access to high-powered self-loading long arms in category D that were previously highly restricted, by including “occupational” purposes as a legitimate reason for holding one. Previously under the 1996 agreement they were only available to police and military and for other “official” purposes.

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Gun Control Australia’s chair, Samantha Lee, said the government’s failure to inform the public and stakeholders of the new agreement could only be described as a “drop and run”.

“This new NFA has expanded the access to high-powered long arms and opened up a whole new Australian market for rapid-style lever-action firearms. Sadly the new NFA signifies a move away from strong gun laws and a move towards increased gun ownership.”

The shadow justice minister, Clare O’Neil, said:“This is of huge importance to people. I can’t understand why the government is trying to keep it a secret. What are they hiding? The government is so divided that they can’t even speak about gun laws.

“Federal Labor will be carefully reviewing the rewrite of our gun laws in the updated agreement.”

The new 2017 agreement is an amalgamation of the 1996 agreement and the 2002 handgun agreement. While parts of the new agreement are similar to its predecessors, each of the states and territories will probably need to make some legislative changes to meet its requirements.

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The New South Wales Greens MP David Shoebridge said while the agreement maintained the fundamentals of universal firearm registration and licensing, the omission of lever-action shotguns from the import restrictions was a real concern, and would see “thousands of these multiple-shot lethal weapons enter the community”.

“The NFA maintains the ban on importing high-capacity pump-action shotguns but not lever-action shotguns,” he said. “We know this is a problem and if the federal ban on lever-action imports is lifted we will have thousands of them in the community.

“There is a real concern amongst gun-control advocates that our state and federal governments are losing their commitment to the NFA. Especially in states like Queensland and NSW, it is an ongoing struggle to see the national agreement written into law and then policed by state governments.”

Keenan has come under fire for the lack of consultation over the firearms changes. A group of 30 domestic-violence groups, gun-control advocates, politicians and prominent Australians criticised him for holding “one-sided” meetings in 2015 with the firearms lobby.

Australian political parties accepted more than $300,000 in donations over the past 12 months from the firearms lobby, gun suppliers and manufacturers, sparking concern among gun-control groups.