Gun sales boom
Sunday Telegraph, Page: 25. Sunday, 2 August 2009
Gun ownership in NSW has increased by 35 per cent in the past year, new figures show.
The NSW Firearms Registry issued more than 12,400 new licences in the year to June, 2009, compared with just 8000 in the previous 12 months.
Figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph show the number of licences for rifles and shotguns increased by 32 per cent in 2008/09 and the number of probationary pistol licences went up almost 260 per cent from 15 to 1015.
The rise in licence applications is reflected in gun shop sales across Sydney.
The rapid increase in the firearms industry has seen a new generation take aim at life with a hunter-gatherer mentality.
Hunter Andrew Peter, owner of Magnum Sports at Roseville, said his business had grown 400 per cent since opening almost two years ago.
He said the growth demonstrated the emergence of a new generation in the sport of hunting.
About 355 gun licence applications were refused in the year to June, down from 412 for the year before.
Applicants refused included those deemed not fit and proper to be licence The 47-year-old said he had been shooting for about 30 years and said it was certainly “on the up and up”.
“People feel more comfortable with the licensing system that’s available now, and since the introduction of the R Licence, where you can hunt in state forests, people have somewhere to go,” he said.
“It’s going up, and it ‘s going up every year.” A NSW Police spokesman said the increase coincided with the amendments to the Firearms Act which started in October. holders and those who were subject to Apprehended Violence Orders.
Bankstown Gun Shop owner Steve Ballas said the busy shop had experienced a 20 per cent jump in trade on the last six months alone.
He said men spent money on guns to feel better about themselves in times of hardship.
“In times of hardship people still have to feel good about themselves so the men are coming in and spending money and their wives have no idea,” Mr Ballas said. “Women have their shoes, men have their guns.”
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