Senator fires controversial gun in video

Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir has appeared in a video firing a controversial lever-action shotgun and criticising calls for more restrictions to be placed on it.

Plans to import the Adler A110 shotgun, which has a magazine capacity of seven rounds, were halted in July last year when it was banned by then prime minister Tony Abbott for six months.

The ban was later extended until August this year.

In a video uploaded to his Facebook page on Monday, Senator Muir responds to what he calls "sensationalism in social and mainstream media" about the lever-action gun and its capabilities.

"It does not have magic powers, it does not take any special cartridge and it is not manufactured any different to any other 12-gauge shotgun on the market," the senator says before firing the gun twice.

"This is not the type of firearm typically used in criminal activity," the post reads.

A petition for further restrictions on the rapid-fire shotgun, created by Port Arthur massacre survivor Carolyn Loughton last year, attracted more than 15,000 signatures.

Ms Loughton, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Sarah in the 1996 Tasmanian massacre, said the weapon had the capacity to fire seven rounds in as many seconds, similar to a pump-action shotgun.

"We, the people of Australia, remember the victims of massacres at places Hoddle St, Monash University, Port Arthur and Martin Place. Never again," the petition reads.

The importer of the A110 sidestepped the federal government's July decision by introducing a version of the gun that has a reduced five-round magazine.

It has recently emerged gun dealers are using a legal loophole that allows them to modify the gun to accommodate a 10-shot magazine plus one additional cartridge in the chamber, meaning it can fire 11 rounds.