Anti-gunners miss the point again
AAP Newswire, Tuesday, 26 July 2011
The National Coalition for Gun Control has renewed its call for a ban on semi-automatic handguns after the Norway massacre. Coalition co-convenor Samantha Lee said semi-automatic longarms were deemed too dangerous and banned in 1996 after the Port Arthur massacre in which Martin Bryant shot dead 35 people. But semi-automatic handguns remain available to sporting shooters.
“It only takes one person with a high-powered semi-automatic firearm and access to lots of ammunition to do horrendous damage,” Ms Lee said.
She singled out the Austrian-made Glock pistol as a type of high-powered military-style firearm available in Australia to licensed sporting shooters.
“We are highlighting the Glocks because of the Norway shooting.
“It just doesn’t make sense that you can get such a high-powered handgun.”
Media reports say Norwegian killer Anders Breivik held permits for a Glock, a rifle and a shotgun. Ms Lee said she could not confirm he actually used the Glock during his shooting massacre of 68 young people on the island of Utoya. Norwegian media images show the perpetrator armed with a rifle. Breivik’s internet posts show him holding an US-made Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle - a type banned in Australia after the Port Arthur killings.
The Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia said handgun ownership in this country had always been tightly controlled and handguns remained the most difficult of firearms to own. Association spokesman Tim Bannister said handgun ownership required club membership, a criminal history check and a probation period. In addition, the firearm could only be used at the club.
He said there were 30,000-40,000 privately owned semi-automatic handguns, but murder by knife or blunt instrument remained nine times more prevalent than murder by firearm.
“Britain banned handgun ownership many years ago and handgun crime has actually soared. It just didn’t work,” he said.
“I am actually quite disgusted and saddened that again they have missed the opportunity to point out the that the real issue in Norway is obviously xenophobic hatred and extremist fundamentalist ideology.”
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