SSAA discusses mental health and gun control
Triple J (Melbourne), Hack, 12/03/2009 05:49pm
Compere Kate O’Toole says news of the gun massacre in Germany has sparked a debate about Australia’s gun laws. Reports have surfaced the killer used a semi-automatic pistol, which are legal in Australia. O’Toole says antigun lobbyists are calling for them to be banned.
Tom Tilley, reporter, Hack, recounts the details of the attack. Philip Alpers, Associate Professor of Public Health, Sydney University, says the gunman’s father was a gun club member who had 14-15 guns at home. Alpers says 14 were kept locked away, but the 15th was used by the gunman.
Bob Brown, Tasmanian Greens Senator, is calling for a ban on semi-automatic pistols in Australia.
Tilley says this debate has been going on in Australia since automatic rifles were banned in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996. Tilley says handguns are still legally available to police, some security organisations and registered sports shooters.
Tim Bannister, Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA), says he is concerned media reports show a trail leading to the massacre including expulsion from school and time spent in a psychiatric unit. Bannister says he the killer killed as many people as the man accused of the Childers Backpacker fire, who used a cigarette and a wheelie bin.
Roland Brown, National Coalition for Gun Control, says it is not good enough that governments allow people to have military semi-automatic handguns for use in target shooting.
Brown says they represent a grave threat. Brown says it is inevitable that we will see a mass shooting on this scale in Australia. Brown says competitive shotting can take place with single shot guns, as well as self-loading handguns.
Bannister says this would wipe out a few competitions in the Commonwealth Games. Bannister says nothing is dangerous in the right hands. Tilley asks if it is worth it to have these guns available for recreation. Bannister says we should concentrate on getting rid of illegal guns in society and punishing those people like the bikies and the gangsters.
Barnaby Joyce, Nationals Senator, says in response to Brown’s call for the banning of semi-automatic guns, that it is the illegal trade in pistols that is the real concern. Joyce says if you want a gun, you can get one illegally at Kings Cross and Brown should suggest some law enforcement measures to get the illegal one off the street.
Alpers says most illegal guns start their lives as registered legal firearms. Alpers says smuggling into Australia is almost negligible. Alpers says the risk of dying by gunshot in Australia has halved since the Port Arthur massacre.
Interviewee: Tom Tilley, reporter, Hack; Angela Merkel, German Chancellor; Bob Brown , Tasmanian Greens Senator; Tim Bannister, Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA); Philip Alpers, Associate Professor of Public Health, Sydney University; Barnaby Joyce, Nationals Senator; Roland Browne, National Coalition for Gun Control.
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