Turkish lever action shotgun to test Aussie gun laws

The Adler’s lever action means it is legally available to general Category A gun licence holders and is not restricted to the strict Category C, semiautomatic classes.

Police were surprised at the rapidity of the Adler’s action.

“We are concerned about its firing rate,” a Victoria Police spokesman said.

“Certainly it is a worry, traditionally a shotgun is a double barrel with two rounds, this has seven or can have eight.”

Although the Adler has a seven-shot tubular magazine, a 12-gauge shell can also be loaded into the gun’s breech to boost its firepower to eight shots.

Australia banned pump-action and semiautomatic firearms after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, when the National Firearms Agreement was introduced.

However, the agreement allows “lever action or repeating bolt-action shotguns”.

There have been other lever-action shotguns imported into Australia since the ban, such as the Chinese-made IAC, but reliability problems and a high price limited their appeal.

The Adler sells for a much cheaper $800-$850, which is one of the keys to its popularity, according to importer and sole distributor, Queensland’s NIOA.

NIOA managing director Robert Nioa agreed the Adler was a “hot item” and it could take his company almost two years to meet orders.

Mr Nioa said the total numbers to be imported were still low relative to other firearm categories.

He said internet video demonstrations of the Adler had also excited Australian shooters, particularly duck hunters who are typically constrained to two shots with their side-by-side or under-and-over shotguns.

The NIOA online video clip of testing with 5000 shells fired through the firearm had 40,000 views before it was taken down.

Mr Nioa said the clip was taken down because the firearm did not need any more advertising.

However shooters claimed on social media the clip was removed because of concerns the Adler’s high firing rate could see its import licence reviewed.

Mr Nioa said the Adler was not a rapid-fire gun and could take a minute to reload.

“A machine gun is rapid fire; this is not that.”

Mr Nioa said the Adler complied with Australian legislation and received appropriate approvals.

“Obviously it is something the sporting shooter has been looking for.”

He said there had been “no official discussion” about reclassifying the Adler into a Category C firearm.

An estimated 800,000 Australians hold a licence to own a firearm. Most of those are Category A firearms.

A Victoria Police spokesman said police had also seen the online clip of the Adler being used.

“It appears to offer a lot of speed and access to a large number of rounds,” the spokesman said.

He said it would be “concerning” to have “a large number of those weapons” in the country.

Field and Game Australia policy director Rod Drew said the Adler shotgun had “created a lot of interest”.

“It is something new, it has created a life of its own,” Mr Drew said.

“The anti-gun people will come in and say it’s a semi-auto and want it banned.

“Customs, the police, they spend a lot of time checking these things before they let them into the country.

“I have seen a lot of these things come and go.

“I will withhold my judgment until I actually see one,” he said. 

Shooters and Fishers Party Victoria has alerted hunters of moves nationally to “recategorise” lever-action firearms into Category C.

A party spokesman said they were told the recommendation had already been made to “change tech­nical aspects” of the firearms agreement.

A Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia Victoria branch spokesman said only suitable people were granted firearms licences.

“Restrictions on pump action shotguns serve no meaningful purpose. The same applies to lever action firearms,” the spokesman said.