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Expired licences:
What to do
T
his is an outline of what a person in possession of an expired
licence can and should do. There are two different scenarios.
Scenario 1
If a licence holder applied after 1 July 2004 and has only ever been
granted a new Firearms Control Act licence (a white licence as it is
known) then the provisions of the Firearms Control Act are clear that
upon expiry of a licence the licence terminates and accordingly there
can be no reason to continue to possess such firearm as the licence
is no longer valid.
Strictly speaking if you only have a white licence then you should
immediately hand the firearm to the police. The police in turn have
indicated that they will not prosecute people who voluntarily hand in
firearms where there is an expired white licence.
There is however legal uncertainty as to whether the police are
correct in demanding that such firearms be handed in and there
are currently three court cases challenging the relicensing provi-
sions of the Firearms Control Act as no provision is made for late
applications.
The most prudent and conservative way to deal with an expired
white licence where there is no underlying green licence is to hand
in the firearm to the police pending judicial resolution of the issue.
Scenario 2
If you had a green licence which was then converted to a white
licence the situation is fundamentally different.
There is an interim Court Order, the so-called SA Hunters Court
Order issued at the end of June 2009, which declared all green
licences remain valid as at the date of that Court Order.
This Court Order remains in force.
The overwhelming legal consensus is if you had a green licence
which was converted to a white licence and said white licence ex-
pired you can still rely on your green licence because it is valid.
Be warned that the police have started to institute prosecution of
some people in possession of a firearm where the licence has ex-
pired and they have not voluntarily handed it in.
FOCUS
Weapons and hunting
Mini-
MARTIN HOOD,
MJ Hood & Associates Attorneys