Senator Wong answers Bob Brown’s gun control questions
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
The Senate
10 November 2008
Senator Bob Brown asked the Minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs, upon notice, on 24 September 2008:
Question No: 742
With reference to the shooting of 10 people at the school in Kauhajoki in south western Finland:
(1) How many handguns similar to the one used in this shooting: (a) Are registered in Australia? and (b) Have been stolen in Australia?
(2) When will the Government ban handguns in Australia?
Senator Wong - The Minister for Home Affairs has provided the following answer to the honourable senator’s question:
The firearm used in the shooting in Finland on 23 September 2008 was reported to be a Walther .22 semi-automatic handgun. This type of handgun has a barrel length of 87mm. In accordance with the 2002 COAG agreement, semi-automatic handguns with a barrel length of less than 120mm are prohibited. Therefore, under State and Territory law, the Walther .22 semi-automatic handgun would be prohibited to the general shooting community due to its short barrel length.
(1) (a) The States and Territories are responsible for firearms registration. State and Territory police firearms registries have provided the following figures on handgun registration, which include handguns registered to sporting shooters, police and security providers.
| Jurisdiction | Semi-Automatic | Total (Manual & Semi-Auto) |
| New South Wales | 32,269 | 56,008 |
| Victoria | 28,567 | 36,186 |
| Queensland | 19,053 | 40,824 |
| South Australia | 12,197 | 19,085 |
| Western Australia | 8,789 | 20,722 |
| Tasmania | 1,976 | 4,453 |
| Northern Territory | 2,504 | 4,104 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 645 | 2,577 |
| TOTAL | 106,000 | 183,959 |
(b) The following available figures on handgun theft have been sourced from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). I am advised that the 2006-07 figures are due to be published by the AIC in 2008.
| 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | |
| Number of handguns reported stolen | 96 | 66 | 104 |
| % of all reported stolen firearms | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Number of semi-automatic pistols reported stolen | 39 | 27 | 29 |
| % of all reported stolen handguns | 41 | 41 | 28 |
(2) The Australian Government considers the existing controls in place on firearms, including handguns, are appropriate to strike a balance between the interests of those with a genuine need to have access to these firearms, such as sporting shooters and primary producers, and the interests of the broader community to live safely and securely.
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