Amnesty – Surrender of Firearms

Permanent firearms amnesty Tasmania:

There is a permanent firearms amnesty in Tasmania.

The amnesty means that unregistered or unwanted firearms can be surrendered to police or firearms dealers without any action being taken in relation to possession offences.

Firearms are often surrendered by people who don’t have a firearms licence or who don’t have the correct category of firearms licence.

A firearm can be surrendered for destruction; to arrange sale (through a firearms dealer); or for safe storage so that the owner can apply for a firearms licence and possibly re-acquire the firearm. A firearm intended for sale may be surrendered direct to a firearms dealer for that purpose and they may charge relevant fees.

A person can apply to re-acquire the surrendered firearm as long as they have the appropriate category of firearms licence in Tasmania and can justify their genuine need to possess that firearm.

Firearms can be surrendered to any police station in Tasmania, but not all firearms dealers will accept them, and if they do, they may charge a fee for their service.

How to surrender a firearm:

Ring the police station or firearms dealer to arrange a time to bring in the firearm. Do not simply turn up with the firearm –  this could cause a security alert.

Seek advice if you are uncertain how to check whether the firearm is loaded.

Do not carry loaded firearms in public or into a police station or firearms dealer.