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The Greens will move to amend the Tasmanian Firearms Act in parliament to restrict the sale of rapid-fire shotguns. The Turkish Adler A110 lever-action shotgun is available in Australia, after the manufacturer modified it to bypass a year-long ban on weapons that could shoot more than five rounds without reloading. Greens police and emergency services spokesperson Rosalie Woodruff said the party wanted to confine the shotgun to Category C and D license holders, restricting it to people with a demonstrated need for this type of weapon. “This does need to be done at the National Firearms Agreement level as well but there is nothing in the state legislation or the state situation that would prohibit us from making this minor change to the Firearms Act today.” Gun Control Australia’s Roland Brown said the issue was the lever-action coupled with a magazine of five or more rounds. “The state of Tasmania can legislate to bring in whatever bans and limitations it likes and we would like to see every state move now – not waiting for a national movement – to put these guns in Category C or D so that they're not in the hands of the average shooter. “We don't want these to be available to people who do not have a need for a weapon like this of five or seven or eight cartridges that gets stored in a suburban home - it's an accident waiting to happen.” Police Minister Rene Hidding said the timing of the Greens’ move was insensitive given last week’s 20th anniversary of Port Arthur. “The issue of the Adler lever-action shotgun is currently being worked through by the Law, Crime and Community Safety Council. “There is a National Firearms Agreement in place and it is very important that agreement is not broken; whatever action is taken on the Adler or any other firearm needs to be consistent across all states.” READ MORE:

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