Labor's Dick Adams supports sensible firearms ownership
The Hon Dick Adams is the Federal Member for Lyons (Tasmania).
Dick Adams grew up on a dairy farm and like many thousands of boys in those days, grew up using a gun for hunting and around the farm. His story is much like many country people.
“I must have been about 14 when I was taught how to use a gun. We were taught gun safety from an early age as guns were part of our culture; hunting rabbits, wallaby and then deer was part of normal life. Safety was stressed continuously by my grandfather and my father and such principles as unloading the gun when you were finished with it in the field and breaking a shotgun when walking became second nature because of the way you were taught.
“I remember being visited at Cressy High School on several occasions by police officers who gave us advice on gun safety also. I can remember them stressing never stand a gun up against a post when getting through a fence, guns should be laid on the ground before climbing through or over the fence to stop accidents and most of my friends at the time had similar instruction.
“Like everything, learning the right way to handle a gun early is always the most successful and proper way of handling gun safety with young people. I think they should be supervised in all the learning stages to ensure that safety and respect of firearms is totally understood. Like a motor vehicle, guns are not toys and should be treated with utmost respect or they can kill accidentally.”
Dick said that like many others in the country, his family have supported the responsible use of firearms even for youngsters and he is concerned when country people get the blame for the illegal use of guns.
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