House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Firearms Licences FIREARMS LICENCES In reply to Mrs REDMOND House of Assembly Heysen Leader of the Opposition FIREARMS LICENCES In reply to Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (28 October 2008). The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT House of Assembly Lee Minister for Police Minister for Emergency Services Minister for Recreation FIREARMS LICENCES The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing): A person who does not have a current, valid South Australian firearms licence cannot purchase a firearm in South Australia. South Australia Police (SAPOL) advises the Auditor-General's comments relate to the process of follow-up by Firearms Branch when a person has applied to purchase a firearm but has either not completed the transaction to purchase the firearm or has not registered the firearm within the required 14 days. I am further advised a person who is seeking to purchase a firearm in South Australia must submit an 'Application to Purchase a Firearm' (APP) to the South Australia Police. If the applicant does not act on the APP within four weeks after it has been approved, a letter is sent to the applicant reminding them to either register the firearm or to contact Firearms Branch to discuss their application. If the applicant fails to respond to this letter, the Firearms Control System generates a further report which lists all firearms for which an application to purchase has been submitted but which have not been registered. The great majority of these relate to the applicant deciding not to proceed with the purchase of a firearm. A small number fail to act on the reminder letter to register their firearm. These people are advised to immediately register the firearm or face criminal proceedings. The comments in the Auditor-General's report relate to not having dealt with the follow up process in a sufficiently timely manner at the time of audit. The 'Purchase Applications' report is now broken down into smaller components and divided amongst staff within the whole of Firearms Branch for contact to be made with applicants so that follow up is now undertaken more quickly. I am also advised approximately 22,000 APPs are received and processed by Firearms Branch each year. There are no recorded instances of firearms disappearing or becoming untraceable under this process.