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A West Australian man whose gun was seized in a series of raids targeting sovereign citizens has lost a major legal challenge, marking the first time a court has validated the police’s justification for targeting the anti-government movement.
George Carey had his firearm seized by police during the raids across Perth and the metropolitan area late last year, after WA Police became concerned with a series of high-profile incidents in the eastern states, including the murders of Victorian police committed by sovereign citizen Dezi Freeman.
During the raid, officers executed 70 searches at different addresses, seized 135 firearms and cancelled or suspended 44 firearm licences. Officers also inspected 26 firearm storage units.
Carey took his fight to WA’s Supreme Court, after the state’s police commissioner determined he was not a fit and proper person to hold a firearm licence. He first tried to appeal the decision about a month after the raid took place and was knocked back, and tried again in March this year.
Carey argued he had not been subject to “procedural fairness” – that is, the right to a fair hearing – and said there had been a “jurisdictional error”, as he claimed the courts lacked the legal authority to make the decision.
The argument was in line with common sovereign citizen beliefs, with the group often claiming authorities and government entities had no real power over them.
Police Commissioner Col Blanch has also previously argued this was the reason why WA Police were seizing weapons from sovereign citizens – because they did not accept the state’s Firearms Act, nor the fact they were bound by it.
Carey also argued he had been unable to hear certain parts of the arguments made against him by the State Solicitor’s Office, but it was later found while he initially complained he was having difficulty hearing, counsel raised their voices, and he later agreed he could hear them.
The Court of Appeal ultimately found there was no procedural unfairness, and it ultimately did have the authority to reject his appeal. It ordered him to pay $2500 in costs.
It is the first time a sovereign citizen targeted in last year’s raids has lost a challenge against the firearm licence disqualification, and the first indication WA Police’s legal argument for removing guns from those who expressed anti-authoritarian views was justified.
Another person targeted in the raids is also currently before the State Administrative Tribunal, after mounting a case against her own firearm licence.
May-Ring Chen claimed she was a Galactic Emissary who went by the “soul name” Yuna when her guns were taken from her property last year, after she sent two letters to the Commissioner of Police and the Governor of Western Australia stating there was no “law without consent”.
Carey advised Chen at the hearing, and was overheard advising her to also argue “there had been no procedural fairness”. He was also a member of the same gun club as Chen, who later said they had not been told by WA Police the pair had been targeted in its sovereign citizen raids.
A Canning Gun Club representative later conceded while they had no way of knowing the pair’s political views, if they had been aware Carey and Chen did not believe in the legitimacy of government, they would have had concerns about their membership.
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