Recent changes to the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld) have introduced mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for certain offences under the act. The amendments touch chiefly upon the penalties for unlawful possession of a weapon under s50 of the act, unlawful supply of weapons under s50B and unlawful trafficking in weapons under s65. This post looks at the changes to the penalties for unlawful possession of a weapon under s50:

Amendments to s50 of the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld):

The following paragraphs set out the mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment to be imposed under the amendments to s50 of the weapons act:

• Unlawful possession of a firearm,  where the firearm is defined within categories D, H, R, C or E of the weapons act, will result in a mandatory minimum imprisonment of 18 months, served wholly in a correctional centre, where the firearm is used to commit an indictable offence;

• Where a firearm covered under these categories is unlawfully possessed for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an indictable offence, the mandatory minimum is one year’s imprisonment, served wholly in a correctional facility;

• Where a person unlawfully possesses a short firearm, in a public place, without a reasonable excuse, the mandatory minimum is one year’s imprisonment, served wholly in a correctional facility;
• • In relation to this offence, it is a reasonable excuse to unlawfully possess a short firearm if:
    • A licence was in force within the 12 months immediately before the day the person committed the offence but is no longer in force at the time of the offence; and
    • The person would have been authorised under this Act to possess the short firearm in the public place at the time of the offence if the licence was still in force at that time; and
    • It was not a reason for the licence being no longer in force that the licence had been surrendered, suspended or revoked under this Act.

• Where the firearm is defined as a category A, B or M weapon, unlawful possession of that firearm will result in 9 months imprisonment, served wholly in a correctional centre, where the firearm is used to commit an indictable offence;
• Where a firearm covered under these categories is unlawfully possessed for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an indictable offence, the mandatory minimum is six months imprisonment, served wholly in a correctional facility

It should be noted that:

• A short firearm is defined in the act as a category H weapon that is a firearm or a category C, D or R weapon that is under  75cms and;
• For the purposes of this section, a public place is taken to include any vehicle that is in or on a public place.

The effect of these changes is that unlawful possession of a firearm, where the firearm is used to commit an indictable offence or possessed for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of an indictable offence, will result in a mandatory term of imprisonment. More particularly, unlawful possession of a short firearm, in a public place, without a reasonable excuse, will result in mandatory sentence of one year’s imprisonment.

If you need assistance from Brisbane criminal lawyers regarding this act, please get in touch with us.