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More than 300 outlaw bikies legally own firearms as police welcome new powers to restrict gun ownership after admitting ‘we have no power to stop them’
- Over 300 outlaw bikies and employees legally have firearms licenses in WA
- New firearms ban brings tougher penalties for gun crimes in WA
- Criminally Connected Western Australians Cannot Obtain Licenses
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About 300 cyclists and employees have a firearms license and can legally purchase deadly shotguns, pistols and rifles.
The revelation in Western Australia includes 312 patched members, former members and associates of motorcycle gangs in the state who could buy and legally hold a weapon.
WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said the alarming statistic, obtained by the Western Australiandemonstrated the need for strict firearms bans that are about to take effect in the state.
“Right now there’s nothing we can do to stop them,” he admitted.
The firearms ban will ban the production of 3D-printed weapons, increase penalties for gun-related offenses and, more importantly for the WA Police Force, prohibit anyone suspected of posing a threat to the community from being licensed.
It also prohibits those deemed dangerous to the public from living where firearms are stored.
About 300 bicycles and affiliates are legally licensed to firearms and lethal weapons in Western Australia, as police seek to crack down on gang-related gun violence with new laws
Nick Martin (left, exits court with Rebels affiliates in Perth) was killed in a public shooting at a 2020 drag strip, raising fears of a rise in gang tensions and gun crime
Penalties for drive-by shootings, or shooting a gun at a house or building, will also be increased under the scheme.
Gel blasters are also banned as ‘prohibited weapons’.
Mr Papalia said too many firearms in the state were unsecured and easy to steal.
“Worse, under our outdated firearms laws, criminals in WA don’t even have to steal a firearm to get their hands on a gun,” he said.
“They get them legally. That’s why we’re changing the laws.’
Police have routinely discovered large numbers of unsecured weapons in Western Australia (above: Weapons seized during a federal police raid)
Western Australia’s firearms prohibition scheme will prevent those deemed dangerous to the community from obtaining firearms licenses after an intense period of escalating tensions in gang warfare (above, police at the scene of an alleged bicycle shooting)
Publicly available police data shows that gun violence in Western Australia has been high in recent years.
Over the past three years, the state has seen an average of 531 firearms offenses per year.
The brutal murder of Rebel motorcycle boss Nick Martin in 2020 at a speedway event at the Perth Motorplex sparked the state’s fight against guns over fears of escalating gang tensions.
A 335-meter bullet tore through Martin’s chest in front of hundreds of families and children.
A former soldier who is required to remain anonymous for legal reasons was subsequently arrested for the sniper attack, after admitting that he accepted $100,000 for taking out Martin.
Previous federal and WA police raids in recent years have revealed large quantities of unsecured weapons, including many buried under property.
Gun theft is also a common trend in residential burglaries.
Between 2019 and 2021, the state saw an average of 211 incidents of gun theft from home burglaries.