As the Western Australian Labor Government nears the end of its quest to rewrite state firearm laws, it has blatantly ignored commonsense questioning in parliament and a record-breaking community response to a survey.
While Labor Minister for Police Paul Papalia and his party members continue to claim the measures in the Firearms Bill are made in the name of public safety, WA Nationals’ MPs have continued to take the higher road and their logical queries have clearly shown this not to be the case.
In recent weeks, a motion to refer the Firearms Bill to the Legislation Committee for a full review has been shot down, largely because Labor maintains the balance of power in both houses of WA Parliament. Outside of parliament, a domestic violence incident resulting in the loss of lives has been used as a vulgar political grandstanding opportunity by WA Labor Premier Roger Cook and Police Minister Paul Papalia without proper regard for accuracy. The pair used the situation to announce further changes to the Firearms Bill they have spent the past few years claiming was the answer to all issues involving firearms. These amendments, and the wider fall out of the incident, have prompted a slew of opportunistic and sensationalised reports by mainstream media outlets intent on a good headline.
WA Police are now essentially pre-policing legislation that has not passed WA Parliament by informing applicants adding firearms to their license of the firearm number limits that would be imposed if the Firearms Bill passes in its current form. The Bill was read for a second time and agreed to in early June; there are several stages of reading and consideration that follow and are expected to progress during that sitting period.
SSAA Inc is supporting SSAA WA and the WA Firearms Community Alliance initiative in this area, as our representatives speak to media, assist with advice on parliamentary statements and provide updates to WA members. Please see WAFCA and SSAA WA on Facebook for more information.