Arms Act 1983

The Act also contains a saving for carriers. A carrier may have possession of listed items in the course of carriage under a contract of carriage, but that saving is expressly subject to prohibitions, limitations, restrictions, or conditions imposed by or under regulations.

Part 2 deals with licensed dealers. It covers licensing, fit and proper person requirements, conditions, place of business, gun shows, duration, renewal, surrender, revocation, and the effect of expiry or revocation.

The Act also specifically states that employees of a licensed dealer must hold firearms licences bearing appropriate endorsements. If your business operates under a dealer’s licence, that requirement should be checked carefully against the roles and items involved.

Part 4 and Part 5 then deal with possession restrictions and firearms licences, endorsements, and permits to possess. The Act includes restrictions on possession of prohibited firearms, prohibited magazines, prohibited parts, pistols, restricted weapons, non-prohibited firearms, airguns, non-prohibited magazines, non-prohibited parts, ammunition, and pistol carbine conversion kits.

It also includes provisions for endorsements in respect of pistols, restricted weapons, prohibited firearms, and prohibited magazines, plus a specific provision dealing with possession for stage, film, or television purposes.

The Act expressly addresses mail order or Internet sale of arms items or ammunition. If your business sells online, by phone, or through another remote ordering channel, you should treat that as a separate compliance workflow. Remote sales can create extra risk around identity, authority, records, and dispatch controls.

The Act also establishes a firearms registry. The Commissioner must keep a registry for the purposes of the Act, and the Act sets out content that the registry must record, including licence details, identity details, endorsements, additional conditions, and certain particulars of firearms, restricted weapons, and prohibited magazines if those particulars are held by Police.

Section 95 creates an obligation to provide information to the registry. It applies to every holder of a firearms licence, every holder of a dealer’s licence, and every other person who is or intends to be in possession of a firearm or other item regulated by or under the Act. It also applies in relation to events including sale or supply, purchase or receipt, importation, exportation, manufacture, and theft, loss, or destruction.

The Act says relevant details must be provided to Police in accordance with the time and other requirements prescribed by regulations. In other words, the Act creates the reporting framework, but the practical timing and detail requirements must be checked in the regulations.

The Act also contains offences relating to the registry. Businesses should therefore treat registry reporting as a live compliance obligation, not as an optional administrative step.

The Act also restricts manufacture of prohibited items and includes offences relating to illegal manufacturing of certain arms items, illegal trafficking of firearms, parts, or ammunition, and falsifying, removing, or altering firearm markings. These are serious operational risk areas for any business involved in production, modification, assembly, or supply chain handling.

The Act also recognises possession of firearms, pistols, prohibited items, or restricted weapons for stage, film, or television purposes. Businesses in production work should check both the relevant possession authority and the practical controls around supervision, movement, storage, and use.

The dealer licensing part also includes a provision about on-site theatrical armourers supervising firearms use in certain cases.

The Act also includes provisions on reporting of injuries caused by firearms and related items, unsafe firearms or pistols, surrender or delivery of firearms, improvement notices, temporary suspension of licences pending possible revocation, review rights, appeals, forfeiture, and disposal of detained items.

For most businesses, the safest approach is to treat arms compliance as a formal operational system with clear responsibilities and escalation points.

Before acting, check three things. First, confirm the exact item category involved. Secondly, confirm whether your activity triggers a licence, permit, endorsement, recordkeeping, or reporting requirement. Thirdly, check the current regulations, because the Act relies on regulations for some practical detail, including timing and information requirements.