The police may require a person who they reasonably suspect has information they need relating to firearms to answer certain questions, give their full name, date of birth and residential address, and produce identification [Firearms Act 2015 (SA) s 55(1)].

Police may ask whether a person is the owner of a particular firearm and, if they are not, who the firearm belongs to [s 55(2)]. If they are the owner of the firearm, they may be asked where their firearm is currently located and the identity of anyone who may have possessed it.

It is an offence to refuse, without reasonable excuse, to answer a question lawfully put by a police officer under s 55, with a maximum penalty of a fine of $20,000 or imprisonment for 4 years [s 55(5)]. The owner of a firearm may not refuse to answer a question about the whereabouts of their firearm on the grounds that the answer may incriminate them [s 55(7)].

Police may demand to see a firearm or a firearms licence immediately or require it to be taken to a police station within 48 hours [s 56]. Failure to comply carries a maximum penalty of a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment for 2 years.

The police can stop, detain and search any person or vehicle (and seize firearms, parts, and accessories) if they reasonably suspect that a firearm is unregistered or that a firearms offence is being committed or in certain other circumstances [s 57].

See further the Law Handbook section on Firearms.