Tasmania's major parties have "undermined" the state's top cop by promising to wind back law changes requiring antique guns to be licensed.
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The Liberals, aiming for a fourth term in government, and Labor made the pledge on the campaign trail for the March 23 election.
Tasmania Police Commissioner Donna Adams in January announced pre-1900 guns would no longer be exempt from licensing, registration and storage provisions.
The changes came after a police review found treating antique guns differently from other firearms was not consistent with the intent of the law or community expectations.
Police also said the exemption had been subject to misinterpretation, and some people had relied on it to possess firearms that took commercially available cartridge ammunition.
Police Minister Felix Ellis said the changes did not get the balance right.
"(We are) really committed to making sure we're backing in the Tasmanian way of life and supporting antique firearm collectors and families who might have them as heirlooms," he told reporters on Friday.
Mr Ellis said a re-elected Liberal government would amend laws to ensure there were no licensing requirements for antique guns and no requirement to do a firearms safety course.
He said antique firearms would only need to be registered with state police, with owners providing contact details and information about the gun.
Mr Ellis said the rules would apply to antique firearms not designed to discharge cartridge ammunition and for which cartridge ammunition was not commercially available.
Labor has matched the pledge, with MP Shane Broad saying the changes should never have been made in the first place.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said the major parties were putting politics above community safety.
"The police commissioner was clear, antique firearms ammunition hasn't been available but technological advancement means it now is," Dr Woodruff said.
"The police also rightly said a firearm can be used to intimidate or threaten, regardless of whether it can be fired.
"Police are just requiring antique firearms owners to get a licence and go through a fit and proper persons test like every other gun owner."
Tasmania Police said it would continue to work with antique firearm owners.
"Any future legislative amendment is a matter for the incoming government," a statement said.
Gun Control Australia vice-president Roland Browne said it was astonishing the Liberal and Labor parties had "pulled the rug out" from under the police commissioner.
"In my 35 years working in gun control I have never before seen a political party undermine a police commissioner and police force in this way," he said.
Mr Browne said licensing was an important oversight for tracking gun ownership.
He said there was a patchwork of antique gun laws across Australia, but the police changes placed Tasmania at the top of the tree.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party previously criticised police for a lack of consultation, calling for Tasmania's proud firearm history to be protected.
Australian Associated Press
