New South Wales Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm says the Acting Shadow Minister for Justice Graham Perrett should apologise immediately to law-abiding firearms owners.
In his October 8 press release, Senator Leyonhjelm said Mr Perrett had effectively labelled law-abiding firearms owners as criminals. “Mr Perrett had falsely claimed the five shot Adler lever action shotguns that have already been legally imported are illegal. This is false. It is the seven shot model that has been banned from importation for 12 months, and none have been imported,” said the Senator.
Senator Leyonhjelm went on to debunk Perrett’s claims with the facts:
| Perrett’s claims | The facts |
|---|---|
| The five show Adler was a ‘modified’ version of an earlier import | The current imports are a standard factory model of the Adler. |
| “The Liberal Government must immediately act to prevent these high powered and illegal weapons from being imported into Australia.” | The Adler shotgun is no more powerful than any other 12 gauge shotgun currently in Australia. The Adler is not illegal – 1200 have already been delivered in accordance with the law. |
| “As gun technology is updated, our laws should be reviewed to ensure that it keeps up with advances in technology.” | The Adler lever action shotgun in no way represents new technology. This mode of action has been used by Australian shooters for over 130 years. Two brands of lever action shotgun equivalent to the Adler have been available for years. |
| “Given the events of the past week, domestically and abroad, now is not the time to erode or undermine John Howard’s tough gun laws, which are respected around the world.” | The Parramatta shooting by an unlicensed shooter with an illegal firearm explicitly demonstrates why ‘John Howard’s tough gun laws’, which target law abiding firearm owners, will do nothing to stop criminal actions. |
“Mr Perrett should explain to shooters why Labor wants to ban legal firearms such as the Adler,” said Senator Leyonhjelm. “I will not stand by and watch politicians from any party use law abiding firearm owners as scapegoats for illegal activity or as pawns to express populist claptrap.”