Anti-gunners say NSW new gun laws are threat to public safety

New laws to allow kids to use high calibre handguns - Shooters party targets public safety

National Coalition for Gun Control media release, 16 June 2008

The NSW Shooters’ Party seeks to pass a new law that will see kids as young as 12 using high calibre handguns.
The Bill is scheduled to be debated in Parliament this week and looks to drastically water down NSW gun laws.
The Bill will:

• Allow minors to use high calibre handguns
• Allow anyone to use a firearm at a shooting range unlicensed and without a permit
• Allow for firearm dealers to send firearms via the postal system
• Remove the 28-day waiting period (criminal checks) if a person is purchasing another firearm of the same kind
• Allow more shooting clubs to use high-powered self-loading and pump action shotguns for clay target shooting
• Remove power of Police Commissioner to revoke a club’s licence if the club knowingly allows a person to shoot if they have been convicted of a firearm offence
• Allow any firearms dealer and collector to participate in gun expo without the need of a permit

“The Bill is a significant threat to public safety and breaches both the 1996 National Firearms Agreement and the 2002 Handgun Agreement”, says Roland Browne, Co Chair of the National Coalition for Gun Control.
Prior to 1996 reform of the gun laws in many states, including NSW, was held up by the gun lobby in its various guises. The stifling of tighter gun laws by the gun lobby meant that access to firearms was too easy and massacres were inevitable.
“The 1996 National Firearms Agreement was reached after the Port Arthur massacre where 36 were killed and 18 people seriously wounded. In the decade before that massacre there were public mass shootings on an almost annual basis. Most notable were the Hoddle Street and Queen Street massacres in Melbourne(8 dead in each) and the Strathfield massacre in Sydney in 1991 (8 dead).
“Like its predecessors, the Shooters’ Party has nothing to contribute on the public safety front. Its agenda is to achieve weaker gun laws to allow proliferation of firearms. This is to the financial advantage of manufactures and distributors of firearms.”
The Shooters Party Bill is ultimately about profits for the multi million dollar firearms industry.
“The Bill is the Shooters’ Party’s wish list; but it is a law enforcement nightmare. The frightening thing is the wish could come true as the NSW Government may support the Shooters Party in the Upper House as a trade off to pass other laws”, says Mr Browne.
“If this Bill gets passed it will be a very sad day for NSW and it will mean a decrease in public safety”, says Mr Browne.
Mr Browne called on the Government, Green, Liberal Party and Independents to stand firm and oppose the Bill.