Long arm of the law misses unlicensed owners
Adelaide Advertiser, Page: 20. Monday, 13 October 2008
Unsurprisingly, over the past week or so, I have been thinking about the issue of gun control. Possession of fire-arms in South Australia is regulated by the Firearms Act 1977 and the Firearms Regulations 2005 which are administered by the Firearms Branch of the SA Police.
Looking at how tough this legislation is and the heavy penalties for breaches of the law, it seems to me that the real problem is not with the people who own legal firearms but with those who basically don’t care what the law says and are prepared to act outside it.
In South Australia, anyone wishing to own a firearm must acquire a licence, and each firearm thereafter must be registered.
As with many schemes for control of firearms worldwide, there is a mandatory delay before a licence can be issued. In SA, this period is 28 days, a relatively lengthy period, certainly compared with the three to four days delay in some states of the United States.
There are strict controls on which sorts of firearms can be legally purchased, with some exceptions for primary producers, clay target shooters (who must be members of a recognised firearms club and the SA Clay Target Association Incorporated or the Australian Clay Target Association Incorporated) or collectors (who also must be licensed).
A genuine reason must be given for the acquiring of a licence, "self-defence" not being an acceptable reason.
An applicant for a firearms licence will be required to provide identification through the 100-point identification system and checks are done into the suitability of the applicant to hold a firearms licence.
If the applicant is considered to be a suitable person to hold a firearms licence then training (either through a TAFE course or a recognised firearms club) will also be required.
Possession of an unregistered firearm, either by the holder of a firearms licence or otherwise, is a criminal offence. The penalties are, in my view, appropriately harsh: up to a $75,000 fine or imprisonment for 15 years for possession of certain weapons.
According to the Sporting Shooters Association, in 2007 about 5.2 per cent of Australian adults legally owned a firearm. Of course, it is not these people who are the real problem.
From a personal point of view, I do not understand the need to shoot guns, although I recognise that some people, most of them law-abiding, do find pleasure in target shooting. I obviously accept the need for farmers to possess certain sorts of guns.
The problem is, as is often the case, the people and the weapons who are outside the system.
Unfortunately, the penalties for possession of unregistered firearms, no matter how harsh, will not deter these sorts of people they just don’t care.
The challenge for the police is how to best address this seemingly intractable problem. The Lord Mayor’s call for metal detectors in nightclubs may be a sensible one although it makes me sad to think that this might be necessary.
But what about the unlicensed guns concealed in the boots of cars, for example? Perhaps the only answer is the old-fashioned one an increased police presence "on the beat".
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