PRIVATE contractors can no longer transport guns for WA Police after an incident in which three firearms went missing.

The firearms were never recovered after the truck carrying them crashed near Mt Magnet in October 2013.

Police confirmed the incident and an overhaul of procedures on Friday.

“The loss of the firearms prompted an investigation which found they were not unloaded once the truck arrived in Perth on October 17, 2013,” a police spokeswoman said.

“That truck was subsequently involved in a rollover near Mt Magnet on October 25, 2013, and it is believed the firearms were removed from the truck at the crash scene.

“The investigation did not result in the recovery of the firearms and no charges were laid. The incident prompted changes to policies and procedures which precludes private companies from moving firearms on behalf of WA Police. This work is now done by WA Police staff.”

The WA Firearm Traders Association this week claimed the incident had rebounded on its members because police have imposed tough new rules on the transport of all firearms.

Gun and ammunition dealers complain the red tape and additional costs now make it too difficult for them to operate in regional WA.

Only four commercial carriers in WA are approved and they mainly service Perth and Bunbury.

Association president Bevan Steele said the requirements were too oppressive and costly for smaller transport companies that used to deliver to dealers in regional towns.

He said the changes would lead to the death of another country industry.

“The police incident is now affecting private industry because we can’t get our product to the consumer. It’s a big state,” Mr Steele said.

WA Parliament’s only Shooters and Fishers Party representative Rick Mazza criticised the changes saying firearms and ammunition have been transported by commercial carriers to service gun dealers throughout the state without incident for many decades.

“In regional WA where the need for firearms as a necessary tool for primary production in pest control and euthanizing injured stock; the smaller transport businesses who service those areas simply find it too costly and difficult to become approved carriers,” he said.

“This has forced some dealers to make long trips to Perth to pick up goods themselves putting pressure on them financially and draining their time and family life. Not to mention the lost income.”