Firearms Trafficking Charges SA: Section 22, Penalties and Defences
Firearms trafficking charges in South Australia
Firearms trafficking charges in South Australia reach much further than organised dealing in guns. Section 22 catches the person who acquired a firearm without a permit, the person who knowingly financed a step in someone else’s deal, and the person who knowingly provided the premises. It also carries the highest maximum penalty in the Firearms Act. Every hour matters, so book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021 to speak with a senior criminal lawyer.
Firearms trafficking: key facts
| Issue | Position in South Australia |
|---|---|
| The charge | Trafficking in firearms, section 22 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA): acquiring a firearm without being authorised by a permit, or without following the prescribed process; and, where an acquisition is unlawful, supplying the firearm, or knowingly taking or participating in a step, knowingly financing a step, or knowingly providing premises for a step. |
| Maximum penalty, single firearm, first offence | $35,000 or 7 years for a category A or B firearm; $50,000 or 10 years for category C, D or H; $75,000 or 15 years for a prescribed firearm. Aggravated, where a supplier or dealer supplied a person under 18: $50,000 or 10 years for category A or B, and $100,000 or 20 years for category C, D, H or prescribed. |
| Two or more firearms, or a subsequent offence | Imprisonment for 20 years (section 22(11)). |
| Summary disposal | For a person with no previous finding of guilt for trafficking, at the prosecutor's discretion, with the maximum capped at $10,000 or 2 years. Not available for a prescribed firearm (section 22(12)). |
| Which court | Magistrates Court where dealt with summarily; otherwise the District Court. |
| What the prosecution must prove | The limb actually charged: for acquisition, that you acquired a firearm and no permit authorised it, or the prescribed process was not followed; for the other limbs, an unlawful acquisition plus the act (supply, step, finance, premises) and, for every limb except supply, that you acted knowingly. |
| The defences | Section 22(5): a business loan or hire between people in the same business, each licensed to use the firearm in it (10 days if oral, 28 days if written); for a category A, B or H firearm, a loan or hire from the owner to a licensee for a stated purpose, after the owner inspected the licence (same periods); and circumstances prescribed by regulation. A licensed dealer acquiring in the ordinary course of business is outside section 22(1). |
| Sentencing | General deterrence is of great importance. Supply under section 22(2)(a) is a serious firearm offence in its own right (Sentencing Act 2017, section 49(1)(g)), so a supplier who is convicted must be sentenced to imprisonment, which can be suspended only on a declaration based on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances (section 51). |
| Typical outcome | Imprisonment for a supplier who is convicted, unless the suspension declaration is made. An acquisition without a permit between two licence holders sits at the other end and often turns on the permit paperwork. Every case turns on its facts. |
| First step | Find the permit, hire, transfer and bank records, then a same-day free 30-minute consultation. Call (08) 7094 2021. |
What are firearms trafficking charges in South Australia?
Firearms trafficking charges are laid under section 22 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA) (the Act). The section covers acquiring a firearm without being authorised by a permit, or without following the prescribed process, and the supply side of an unlawful acquisition: the supplier, and anyone who knowingly took or participated in a step, knowingly provided or arranged finance for a step, or knowingly provided premises.
This page sets out what the section covers, its carve-outs, the penalty ladder it produces, the cases that decide it, and how a charge of this kind is met. It sits under our guide to firearms offences in South Australia. Its figures are current to the Act as in force 19 February 2026 and the Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) as in force 16 February 2026.
If police have spoken to you about the supply or acquisition of a firearm, the position is serious and more defensible than it looks on a charge sheet. Every hour matters: book a same-day free 30-minute consultation, or call (08) 7094 2021 to speak with a senior criminal lawyer.
On this page
- Why "trafficking" is misleading
- Defences and carve-outs
- Penalties
- The permit to acquire pathway
- How similar charges tend to play out
- How the courts sentence trafficking
- Charges laid alongside
- Prohibition orders and organised crime
- How the charge is defended
- Case law in South Australia
- Frequently asked questions
Why the word “trafficking” is misleading
The offence has two sides, and only one looks like trafficking. The word suggests a person selling guns from a car boot, and section 22 does describe that person. It also describes the buyer who had no permit, and anyone who knowingly took a step, financed a step or provided premises. The section reaches people who never handled a firearm. The Court of Criminal Appeal described the predecessor provision the same way, as applying both to a person who acquires a firearm without first receiving a permit, or takes part in that acquisition, and to a person who supplies a firearm to someone without a permit to acquire it, or takes part in that supply: R v Fusco [2017] SASCFC 47 at [90].
The acquisition side: buying without a permit
Under section 22(1), acquiring a firearm without being authorised by a permit, or without following the prescribed process for the acquisition, is itself the offence. The prescribed process requirement does not apply when you acquire from a licensed dealer in the ordinary course of the dealer’s business (section 22(4)). There is no requirement that you meant to sell it on or that anyone else was involved. A private sale between two licence holders can produce a section 22 charge if the permit was never obtained, did not cover the transaction, or covered a different firearm. That is why the permit question can decide the case.
The supply side: five ways to be inside the section
On the supply side the section reaches well past the person who handed the firearm over.
| Who section 22 can reach | What that looks like in practice |
|---|---|
| The supplier | The person who sells, gives, lends or hires out the firearm |
| A person who knowingly took a step in the acquisition or supply | Collecting it, driving it, storing it, passing it along the chain |
| A person who knowingly participated in a step | Being part of the arrangement without carrying out the step yourself |
| A person who knowingly provided or arranged finance for a step | Putting up money for any part of the acquisition or supply |
| A person who knowingly provided premises for a step, or allowed a step in premises they own, lease, occupy or manage | A house, a shed, a farm, a business, a storage unit |
The people section 22 can reach on the supply side of an unlawful acquisition.
The last two rows are the ones that catch ordinary people. Someone who transferred money to a friend, knowing it was for a step in the deal, can be inside the section without ever seeing a firearm. Someone who knowingly let a step in the deal happen in their shed can be inside it as a provider of premises. Neither sold anything. Both can be charged under the same section as the seller.
The word carrying the weight is “knowingly”. It applies to the person who took or participated in a step, the person who provided or arranged finance and the person who provided premises (section 22(2)(b) to (d)). It does not appear in the supplier limb (section 22(2)(a)). “Supply” means supply through sale, gift, loan or hire, and “acquire” means acquire through purchase, gift, loan or hire (section 4).
So the practical questions in a supply case are ordinary human ones. What were you told the money was for. Did you know a firearm was involved at all. What was actually in the bag in the shed, and who else had a key to it.
What defences and carve-outs does section 22 contain?
Section 22 contains limited defences rather than a general escape hatch. Under section 22(5) it is a defence to prove that the acquisition was under a business loan or hire agreement between people engaged in the same business, or, for a category A, B or H firearm, under a loan or hire agreement between the owner and a licensee, or in circumstances prescribed by regulation. Each defence carries conditions that must be checked against the section, and the person charged has to prove it. Separately, a licensed dealer acquiring a firearm in the ordinary course of business is outside the acquisition offence altogether (section 22(3)).
Business loan and hire arrangements
Firearms are lawfully lent and hired every day, and the section recognises it. Under section 22(5)(a), the defence covers a loan or hire agreement made for the purposes of a business, between people each engaged in that business and each authorised by a firearms licence to possess the firearm for use in it, under which the firearm is to be returned within 10 days if the agreement is oral, or within 28 days if it is in writing. Keeping the firearm past that period is itself an offence (section 22(6) and (7)).
An arrangement that runs past its period is a different thing in law from one that stays inside it. That makes paperwork evidence. Dates on a hire agreement, the terms of a loan and when the firearm actually came back decide whether the defence is available at all. If a loan or hire arrangement is now the subject of a charge, find the document first.
Owner to licensee loans of category A, B or H firearms
Under section 22(5)(b), for a category A, B or H firearm, the defence covers a loan or hire from the owner to a licensee under which the licensee will use the firearm only for a purpose stated in the agreement and return it within 10 days if the agreement is oral, or 28 days if it is in writing. The owner must have inspected the licence immediately before handing the firearm over and been satisfied that it authorised possession for that purpose, and must have had no reason to believe the licensee would breach the agreement. For a written agreement, both must have made and kept a written record in accordance with the regulations. Those conditions have to be read against what actually happened: who the owner was, what was checked and when, and which category the firearm falls into.
Whether a carve-out applies is a question about your facts, answered by reading the charge, the section and the evidence together, not before.
What are the penalties for firearms trafficking in SA?
Firearms trafficking penalties scale by the category of the firearm, by the number of firearms and by whether the offence is aggravated. An offence by a supplier, or by a dealer, is aggravated if the person supplied was under 18 (section 22(14)). For a single firearm on a first offence, the maximum runs from $35,000 or 7 years imprisonment up to $100,000 or 20 years. Two or more firearms, or a subsequent offence, carries imprisonment for 20 years.
| Firearm category | Maximum penalty, basic offence | Maximum penalty, aggravated offence |
|---|---|---|
| Prescribed firearm | $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment | $100,000 or 20 years imprisonment |
| Category C, D or H | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment | $100,000 or 20 years imprisonment |
| Category A or B (other firearms) | $35,000 or 7 years imprisonment | $50,000 or 10 years imprisonment |
Maximum penalties under section 22 of the Act for a single firearm on a first offence. Current to the Act as in force 19 February 2026.
| Circumstance | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Two or more firearms involved | Imprisonment for 20 years |
| Subsequent offence | Imprisonment for 20 years |
| Summary prosecution, at the prosecutor's discretion, for a person with no previous trafficking finding, firearm not prescribed | $10,000 or 2 years imprisonment |
| Summary prosecution, prescribed firearm | Not available |
How firearm count, prior offending and summary disposal change the ceiling. Current to the Act as in force 19 February 2026.
These are maximum penalties, not starting points. They mark the ceiling the court cannot go past, and the sentence is a matter for the court on the facts before it. The Court of Criminal Appeal has held that a penalty expressed as a fine or imprisonment allows one or the other, not both: R v Willingham (No 2) [2012] SASCFC 104 at [36], decided under the equivalent possession provision of the predecessor Act.
Look at how far the ceiling moves between rows. A firearm that turns out to be category C rather than category B lifts the basic maximum from 7 years to 10, and the aggravated maximum from 10 years to 20. Category is decided under section 5 of the Act on how the firearm operates and how many rounds it holds, and it is worth checking rather than accepting.
The aggravated form doubles the ceiling for a category C, D or H firearm, but it applies only where a supplier or dealer supplied a person under 18 (section 22(14)). A person charged with acquiring is never charged in the aggravated form. The count of firearms matters just as much: where two or more firearms are involved, or the offence is a subsequent offence, the maximum is imprisonment for 20 years (section 22(11)).
Can a trafficking charge be dealt with summarily?
A person who has not previously been found guilty of a trafficking offence may, at the prosecutor’s discretion, be prosecuted for a summary offence, except where the offence involves a prescribed firearm, and the maximum then drops to $10,000 or 2 years imprisonment (section 22(12)). A previous offence under the 1977 Act, or under interstate legislation, involving the unlawful acquisition or supply of a firearm counts as a previous offence (section 22(13)). For a prescribed firearm the summary route is not available at all, so the higher ceiling stands.
That is the difference between a ceiling measured in decades and one measured in a couple of years, so how and where a charge proceeds deserves attention from the first week. Matters listed in the city are heard at the Adelaide Magistrates Court, and Talon Legal appears there and in Magistrates Courts across Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Call (08) 7094 2021 or book a same-day free 30-minute consultation, and bring every document, message and receipt you still have.
How does the permit to acquire pathway work?
Section 23 of the Act sets out how a permit to acquire is applied for and granted, and section 22(1) makes acquiring without one an offence, with dealers acquiring in the ordinary course of business excepted (section 22(3)). A permit cannot be granted until 28 days after the application unless the applicant already owns a registered firearm of the same category, or the Registrar is satisfied that it is safe to grant it sooner and that there are special reasons (section 23(9) and (10)).
Section 23 is machinery. It sets up the permit and the waiting period, but the offence of acquiring without authorisation sits in section 22. That is why a permit question can decide a trafficking charge outright.
The Registrar can refuse a permit on the grounds in section 23(3), including these:
- the applicant holds no licence that authorises possession of the firearm
- the applicant is not a fit and proper person
- there is no genuine reason to acquire it, or no genuine need that an existing firearm cannot meet, although the need limb does not apply to category A firearms
- the firearm is particularly dangerous, could easily be converted to an automatic firearm, or could be more readily concealed than others of its category
- the applicant acquired a firearm in the past and failed to produce it for registration
- the applicant has been found guilty of an offence under the Act
Fitness is assessed under section 7, which allows regard to be had to a person’s reputation, honesty and integrity, including that of their associates, and to the risk of misuse or harm. It is a wide test, and the cases on it are collected on our page on firearms licence refusals, cancellations and appeals.
When a permit question is the whole answer
If a permit authorised the acquisition and the prescribed process was followed, the acquisition limb of section 22 is not made out. So the first documents to obtain are the permit application, the permit itself, the dates on both, and the category it covered.
These cases turn on ordinary administrative facts. The permit was granted but arrived after the firearm did. The waiver is not on the file. The permit covered the right category but the dealer recorded a different firearm. All of it is checkable against records that exist.
A firearm can also be lawfully acquired and still not registered, which is a separate offence under section 27. Our page on possessing an unregistered firearm covers it, including the 14 day defence in section 27(2).
How similar charges tend to play out
Three illustrations of how section 22, section 23 and the sentencing cases combine on ordinary facts. They are not predictions. Outcome depends on the limb, the facts, the record, the plea and the court.
The private sale. Two licence holders agree a sale of a category B rifle at a club. The buyer’s permit application is lodged but the rifle changes hands before the permit issues. The buyer is charged with acquiring without being authorised by a permit and the seller with supply. Both are inside section 22 on its face. The case is the paperwork: the application date, the permit date, the category, and whether a waiver applied. If neither has a previous trafficking finding, the prosecutor may proceed summarily for a category B firearm, capping the maximum at $10,000 or 2 years. The seller’s position is the more serious: supply under section 22(2)(a) is a serious firearm offence in its own right, and a seller who is convicted must be sentenced to imprisonment unless a suspension declaration is made on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances (Sentencing Act 2017, sections 49(1)(g) and 51). For the buyer, whether a conviction is recorded is often the real contest.
The shed. A person lets a friend store a bag in their shed for a fortnight. Two firearms are later found in it, and it emerges that the friend acquired them without a permit. The friend is charged under section 22(1). The shed owner is charged with knowingly providing premises for a step in the acquisition under section 22(2)(d), and with possession under section 9, because occupying premises where a firearm is found is possession under section 6. The case is knowledge: the premises limb requires that the owner acted knowingly, and on the possession charge the owner can prove the defence in section 6(3). What the owner was told and what the messages say decide both. With two firearms the section 22 maximum reaches 20 years, which is why the limb charged and the evidence of knowledge are tested before anything else.
The sale on message. Messages show a person offering handguns for sale, and a prescribed firearm the person supplied to a buyer without a permit is recovered. Supply of a prescribed firearm carries $75,000 or 15 years, or $100,000 or 20 years if the buyer was under 18, and summary prosecution is not available for a prescribed firearm. Supply under section 22(2)(a) is a serious firearm offence in its own right, so on conviction imprisonment must be imposed and can be suspended only on a declaration based on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances (Sentencing Act 2017, sections 49(1)(g) and 51). Police may also issue an interim prohibition order, and the court can order forfeiture (sections 43 and 66 of the Act).
How do the courts sentence firearms trafficking?
It is a real possibility that a trafficking charge ends in imprisonment, and section 22 carries the highest maximum penalty in the Act. Maximum penalties are ceilings rather than expectations, and sentencing is a matter for the court on the facts before it. General deterrence is of great importance in firearms cases. In R v Nash [2008] SASC 48 the Court of Criminal Appeal adopted that principle at [26], held at [28] that a fine for supplying firearms did not give proper effect to it, and resentenced the offender to imprisonment ([36]), under the predecessor supply provision. In R v Gasmier [2011] SASCFC 43 at [19] the same court said that people who possess unregistered firearms should understand that the offending will be treated very seriously and that sentences of imprisonment will be imposed. The seriousness of a firearms offence varies with the provision breached and the circumstances: Fusco at [43].
One feature of the sentencing regime matters here. The Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) contains a serious firearm offender regime. Supplying a firearm in contravention of section 22, the offence in section 22(2)(a), is a serious firearm offence in its own right (section 49(1)(g)). Other trafficking offences become serious firearm offences in the circumstances section 49 describes, such as an offence committed while on bail subject to the statutory firearms condition (section 49(1)(e)(i)); under the corresponding 1988 definition that was common ground in R v Simpson [2016] SASCFC 83 at [18]. A person convicted of a serious firearm offence becomes a serious firearm offender (section 50). When a serious firearm offender is sentenced for a serious firearm offence, imprisonment must be imposed where the maximum includes it, and under section 51(1) it cannot be suspended. The only exception is a declaration under section 51(2), for which the offender must prove on oath personal circumstances so exceptional that they outweigh the paramount consideration of community safety and deterrence. The Court of Criminal Appeal has observed that, once the definition was broadened, offences of widely differing gravity can make a person a serious firearm offender, and that courts must keep those distinctions closely in mind on an application for the equivalent declaration under the 1988 Act: Fusco at [96] and [99].
Whether a person is a serious firearm offender, and whether a charge is a serious firearm offence, are set by that Act and have to be checked against the charge as laid.
Whether a conviction is recorded is a separate question, and it matters for work, travel and licensing long after a penalty is paid. Our guide to avoiding a conviction being recorded in South Australia sets out how that argument is put.
Key points
- Supply under section 22(2)(a) is a serious firearm offence: on conviction, imprisonment must be imposed and can be suspended only on sworn evidence of exceptional circumstances.
- Two or more firearms, or a subsequent offence, lifts the ceiling to imprisonment for 20 years, and the count of firearms proved is a live issue.
- General deterrence is of great importance, and in Nash a fine for firearm supply was held inadequate.
What charges can be laid alongside a trafficking charge?
A section 22 charge can sit alongside others, because the same facts can engage several sections at once: possessing or using a firearm without a licence under section 9, possessing an unregistered firearm under section 27, and, where an order applies to someone in the chain, breach of a firearms prohibition order. Each carries its own maximum penalty.
Possessing or using a firearm without a licence. Under section 9 the maximum runs from $20,000 or 4 years imprisonment for a category A or B firearm up to $50,000 or 10 years for a prescribed firearm, with higher aggravated forms. Possession is defined broadly in section 6, extending to controlling access to a firearm and to occupying premises where one is found, subject to the defences in section 6(3). So a person charged over a shed can face both sections at once. Our page on possessing a firearm without a licence sets out how that charge is met.
Drug allegations. Firearms and drugs can be alleged together. Under section 9(7)(c), a section 9 offence is aggravated where it was committed in connection with, or at the same time as, an act or omission that would be a prescribed offence against the Controlled Substances Act 1984 (SA). Our guide to cannabis offences in South Australia explains how the drug side is defended.
Where these charges are laid together, they are usually resolved together. Getting the section 22 charge onto the right limb, category and number of firearms can improve the position on everything beside it.
How do prohibition orders and organised crime allegations fit in?
Supply allegations can travel with a firearms prohibition order. Under section 44 of the Act, the Registrar may issue an order where a person is a member of, or a participant in, a criminal organisation, has been a member of an organisation that is a criminal organisation when the order is issued, or is subject to a control order under the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 (SA). Police can issue interim orders too. Association also counts in the fitness assessment, and under the predecessor provision the District Court read “associates” purposively, without requiring proof of specific associations on specific occasions: Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38 at [32] to [34].
An order bites hard. Under section 45 it suspends any licence or permit, bans the person from firearms, firearm parts, sound moderators and ammunition, and requires immediate surrender of anything held. It also creates offences for other people: supplying a firearm to a person subject to an order carries up to $75,000 or 15 years imprisonment, and $35,000 or 7 years for parts and related items (section 45(9)). That supply offence is itself a serious firearm offence (Sentencing Act 2017, section 49(1)(f)).
So one act of supply can produce two charges from two directions, a section 22 trafficking charge and a section 45 supply charge, if the person on the other end is subject to an order. Our page on firearms prohibition orders sets out how orders are made, including interim orders issued by police under section 43, what they prohibit and how they are reviewed.
Where an allegation includes a criminal organisation theme, the association itself becomes part of the picture under section 7, and an order can follow whether or not the charge does. The two run on different tracks.
How is a firearms trafficking charge defended?
The prosecution has to prove the limb of section 22 it has actually charged. So the first job is identifying which limb: acquisition without a permit, supply, taking or participating in a step, financing a step, or providing premises. Each limb has different elements, and evidence that proves one does not necessarily prove another.
Which limb is charged, and is it made out? A charge sheet that reads “trafficking” tells you very little. We read the section against the alleged facts to work out which limb the case depends on, and whether the evidence reaches it.
Was there a permit? In an acquisition case this can end the matter. Permits, applications, dates, categories and waiver decisions are all documents, and documents can be obtained.
What did you know, and when? Where a limb requires knowledge, that is where the case is fought. Messages, call records, bank records and the sequence of events can say more than anything recalled under pressure months later.
Does a defence in section 22(5) apply? The business loan and hire defence, and the owner to licensee defence for category A, B or H firearms, are written into the section, with the time periods set out above. That turns on the facts and the paperwork.
Is the category right, and how many firearms are proved? The category sets the penalty tier under both tables above, and where two or more firearms are involved the maximum reaches 20 years. Both are technical, and both are checkable.
Was the search properly conducted, and how should the matter proceed? How the firearm was located, what was said and when, and how exhibits were handled are reviewed as a matter of course. The seizure and search powers in section 57 turn on the officer suspecting on reasonable grounds, and the cases on that threshold are on the firearms offences in South Australia page. Where the firearm is not prescribed and there is no previous trafficking finding, summary prosecution, at the prosecutor’s discretion, drops the maximum from years in double figures to two.
We will not promise you an outcome, and we will not tell you a defence is strong before we have read the brief. What we can do is make sure the charge that reaches sentencing is the right limb, in the right category and form.
Firearms trafficking case law in South Australia
The authorities below decide the points that arise on a section 22 charge in practice. Each is linked to AustLII, with the paragraph where the point is made. All were decided under the Firearms Act 1977 or the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988, and each note says how the point carries across.
| Case | Court | Principle | Pinpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| R v Fusco [2017] SASCFC 47 | Court of Criminal Appeal | The predecessor trafficking offence covered acquiring without a permit and supplying to a person without one; seriousness varies with the provision and the facts; distinctions to be kept in view on a declaration | [43], [90], [96], [99] |
| R v Nash [2008] SASC 48 | Court of Criminal Appeal | General deterrence of great importance; a fine for firearm supply was inadequate | [26], [28], [36] |
| R v Simpson [2016] SASCFC 83 | Court of Criminal Appeal | Common ground that firearms offences on bail with the firearms condition were serious firearm offences | [18] |
| R v Gasmier [2011] SASCFC 43 | Court of Criminal Appeal | Possessing unregistered firearms treated very seriously; imprisonment will be imposed | [19] |
| R v Willingham (No 2) [2012] SASCFC 104 | Court of Criminal Appeal | A fine or imprisonment, not both | [36] |
| Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38 | District Court | "Associates" read purposively; no need for proof of specific associations on specific occasions | [32] to [34] |
Case notes
R v Fusco [2017] SASCFC 47
Peek J, with whom Blue and Doyle JJ agreed, explained at [90] that the trafficking offence substituted into the 1977 Act from 7 February 2014 applied to a person who acquires a firearm without first receiving a permit, or takes part in that acquisition, and to a person who supplies a firearm to someone without a permit to acquire it, or takes part in that supply. At [43] he observed that the seriousness of a firearms offence varies with the provision breached and the circumstances. At [96] he noted that the broadened serious firearm offender concept catches offences that differ widely in maximum penalty and circumstances, and at [99] that courts must keep those distinctions closely in mind on an application for a declaration under the 1988 Act. Section 22 of the current Act is framed the same way as the provision described at [90].
R v Nash [2008] SASC 48
In the Court of Criminal Appeal, David J, with whom Doyle CJ and Bleby J agreed, adopted at [26] Gray J’s statement in Offe v Police that general deterrence is of great importance in firearms cases, held at [28] that a fine for supplying firearms did not give proper effect to general deterrence, and resentenced the offender to imprisonment for 3 years with a non-parole period of 20 months ([36]). Decided under the 1977 Act.
R v Simpson [2016] SASCFC 83
At [18] the Court of Criminal Appeal recorded that it was common ground that the appellant’s firearms offences were serious firearm offences under the definition then in section 20AA(1)(e) of the 1988 Act, because he committed them while on bail subject to the statutory condition against possessing firearms. The current equivalent is section 49(1)(e)(i) of the Sentencing Act 2017.
R v Gasmier [2011] SASCFC 43
At [19] the Court of Criminal Appeal said that the maximum penalties for possessing unregistered firearms that are unsecured reflect the seriousness of that offending, and that courts must make it clear to those who possess unregistered firearms that the offending will be treated very seriously and that sentences of imprisonment will be imposed. Decided under the 1977 Act.
R v Willingham (No 2) [2012] SASCFC 104
At [36] the Court of Criminal Appeal held that the penalties in the 1977 Act’s possession provision, expressed as a fine or imprisonment, could only be imposed in the alternative, contrasting the many South Australian provisions that say “or both”. Section 22(10) uses the same “or” form.
Pepper v Registrar of Firearms [2016] SADC 38
Judge Tilmouth held at [32] that “associates”, in the provision allowing regard to the reputation of the people with whom a person associates, must be construed purposefully, as something less demanding than proof of specific associations with specific people on specific occasions, and at [33] and [34] found association established from the structure of a motorcycle club that mandated attendance at meetings. Decided under the 1977 Act; the current provision is section 7(4)(a).
What should you do now?
Find the paperwork first. Permits and permit applications, hire agreements, receipts, transfer records, bank statements and the messages around the transaction are the material these cases turn on, and they are much easier to gather now than they will be in six months.
Write down the sequence of events while it is fresh, including dates. Then stop talking about it. Conversations with other people named in the investigation become evidence, and so does anything said in an interview before you have had advice. Under section 55 police can require a person they suspect on reasonable grounds has knowledge of matters relevant to the administration or enforcement of the Act to answer questions, so what was asked and under which power matters.
We act for people charged with firearms offences across metropolitan and regional South Australia, and our wider criminal defence practice covers the drug, violence and dishonesty charges that can be laid alongside them. Fees and the likely process are discussed upfront.
If you are facing firearms trafficking charges, the first fortnight shapes the case. Every hour matters: book your Free Consultation online, or call (08) 7094 2021 to speak with a senior criminal lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
What is firearms trafficking in South Australia?
Firearms trafficking is the offence in section 22 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA). It covers acquiring a firearm without being authorised by a permit, or without following the prescribed process, and the supply side of an unlawful acquisition: the supplier, and anyone who knowingly took or participated in a step, knowingly financed a step or knowingly provided premises. The Court of Criminal Appeal described the predecessor provision as applying to both the acquirer and the supplier.
Can I be charged with firearms trafficking if I never sold a gun?
Yes. Section 22 is not limited to sellers. Its limbs cover a person who acquired a firearm without a permit, and a person who knowingly took or participated in a step, knowingly financed a step or knowingly provided premises. The section reaches people who never handled a firearm.
What is the penalty for firearms trafficking in SA?
For a single firearm on a first offence, maximum penalties run from $35,000 or 7 years imprisonment for a category A or B firearm up to $100,000 or 20 years for the aggravated form involving a prescribed or category C, D or H firearm, which applies where a supplier or dealer supplied a person under 18. Two or more firearms carries imprisonment for 20 years. A fine and imprisonment are alternatives, not a package.
Is it an offence to buy a firearm without a permit in South Australia?
Yes, and it is charged under section 22 rather than a separate buying offence. Section 23 sets out the permit scheme, and a permit cannot be granted until 28 days after the application unless an exception in section 23(10) applies. Acquiring without being authorised by a permit is the offence.
Can I be charged if I only let someone store a firearm in my shed?
You can be, if you did it knowingly. Knowingly providing premises for a step in an unlawful acquisition is one of the limbs of section 22. You may also face a possession charge, because section 6 of the Firearms Act 2015 (SA) extends possession to occupying premises where a firearm is found, and the courts read that limb widely.
What defences are there to a firearms trafficking charge?
Section 22(5) contains limited defences rather than a general one. They cover business loan and hire arrangements between people in the same business, running 10 days where the arrangement is oral and 28 days where it is in writing, loans or hires of category A, B or H firearms from an owner who inspected the licensee’s licence, and prescribed circumstances. Beyond those, the defence is that the limb charged is not made out: no permit was needed, the knowledge the limb requires is not proved, or the category or count of firearms is wrong.
Can a firearms trafficking charge be dealt with in the Magistrates Court?
Sometimes. A person who has not previously been found guilty of a trafficking offence may, at the prosecutor’s discretion, be prosecuted for a summary offence, and the maximum then drops to $10,000 or 2 years imprisonment. Summary prosecution is not available for a prescribed firearm. How a charge proceeds is worth addressing early.
Does it matter how many firearms were involved?
It matters a great deal. The first penalty table on this page applies to a single firearm on a first offence. Where two or more firearms are involved, or the offence is a subsequent offence, the maximum reaches 20 years imprisonment.
Will I go to jail for a firearms trafficking charge in Adelaide?
It is a real possibility, because section 22 carries the highest maximum penalty in the Act and general deterrence is of great importance. Supply under section 22(2)(a) is a serious firearm offence, so a supplier who is convicted must be sentenced to imprisonment, which cannot be suspended unless exceptional circumstances are proved on sworn evidence (Sentencing Act 2017 (SA), sections 49 and 51). The same applies to other trafficking offences committed on bail subject to the statutory firearms condition.
South Australian courts we attend for firearms matters
Courts we attend
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