AUSTRALIA will move to immediately suspend the importation of a new “fast and furious” $800 shotgun that threatened to undermine gun laws introduced after the Port Arthur massacre.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s dramatic intervention will stop 7000 Adler lever-action shotguns entering Australia. The imports will be suspended for at least six months, until the National Firearms Agreement review process is completed.

The review, which was initiated after the Lindt cafe siege, may yet decide to ban most shooters owning the Adler by placing tougher restrictions on the class of shooter that can buy the weapon.

Described as a “game changer” by gun enthusiasts, the Adler A110 can fire eight shots in eight seconds using a lever-action mechanism.

It has sold out in thousands of pre-orders across Australia with shipments set to begin from August.

Clayton Firearms billed the Adler A110 20 model as being “tailor-made for fast and furious pig shooting from the bike, quad or all terrain vehicle”.

media_camera The Adler A110 shot gun is set to be banned in Australia.

But critics warned the Turkish-made Adler A110 threatened to open the door to thousands of ordinary shooters being able to own a rapid-fire shotgun for the first time since the Port Arthur massacre.

The reason is that the Adler was to be classed as a category A weapon that has the most relaxed restrictions under current gun laws. Category A licences held by any recrea­tional shooter prohibit the ­purchase of pump-action shotguns that can hold more than five rounds but would have allowed the lever-action Adler A110.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan stressed that the decision to suspend imports was not about targeting law-abiding gun owners but reflected the heightened terrorist threat in Australia.

“We know gun technology has updated and we’re doing the work to ensure our laws aren’t outdated,’’ Mr Keenan told The Sunday Telegraph.

“We want sensible debate for practical reforms, which is what we’ll seek through our consultations during this review process.”

media_camera Federal Justice Minister Michael Keenan wants to ensure Australia’s gun laws aren’t outdated.

Critics argue the Adler is comparable with a pump-action shotgun because it has a magazine capacity of seven rounds, with another round in the barrel allowing shooters to fire eight rounds in eight ­seconds.

But the importer, Robert Nioa, the son-in-law of federal MP Bob Katter, insists a pump-action can fire at twice the rate of the lever-action Adler. Mr Nioa had planned to import 20,000 into Australia a year.

Gun law reform advocates had warned the Adler A110 represented one of the greatest threats to the nation’s gun law regimen since the Port Arthur massacre.

“Rapid-fire rifles turn up in mass shootings and that’s why they were basically banned here after Port Arthur,” Gun Control Australia spokesman Roland Browne said yesterday.

“We would like to see a complete ban unless it is subject to the same restrictions as a category C firearm.”

The national firearms review was agreed to by state governments in the wake of the Lindt cafe siege sparked by Islamic State-inspired gunman Man Haron Monis.

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