By Public submissions called for remaking NSW Explosives Regulations 2013
The NSW Government has announced its intention to remake the Explosives Regulations 2013.
In a call for consultation, stakeholders are asked to provide feedback on how to improve, modernise and streamline the laws, so they continue to work effectively.
SIFA has reviewed the Regulatory Impact Statement and the Draft Explosives Regulation 2021, and the main issue for the firearms industry and licensed firearms owners is a proposed change to the allowable limit of gun powder to stored at private residences.
Under the current regulations, the allowable limit is 12kg per firearms license holder, however the proposed regulation reduces this to 12kg per household.
SIFA has already questioned the reasons for the proposed change, and in doing so we have requested data on the number of safety incidences experienced at private residences over the last five years, where >12kg’s of gun powder was involved. We are still waiting on the data, assuming it even exists!
Further, the regulatory impact statement claims “The proposed Regulation will ensure that there are not large, unsafe amounts of propellant powder being stored in the community”. Given that “large” is little more than one person’s subjective opinion, and how reaching a mass of 12kg’s makes a powder transform from being safe to unsafe is not explained, SIFA calls on the NSW Government to justify the need for these proposed changes and detail the evidence that they have relied on.
SIFA will be entering a full submission highlighting that the current arrangements do not warrant changing and we encourage all law abiding firearms owners to do the same.
Feedback can be provided via the NSW Governments Have your say website, where there is the option to answer a survey or upload a submission with a deadline for feedback by Sunday 22 August 2021.
As with any Government submission, be courteous and factual, and highlight the reasons for your statements.
