Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham says he almost shot his brother in the face

A NSW MP has confessed to Parliament that as a teen he placed a loaded handgun under his brother’s chin and “clicked ... then pulled the trigger again”.

A NSW Greens MP has told of how, as a 15-year-old, he placed a handgun under his brother’s chin and pulled the trigger.

Fortunately for MLC Jeremy Buckingham, 43, the “first chamber of the revolver had been left empty” and he did not kill his sibling Jesse, though a subsequent pulling of the trigger blew a hole in the wall.

During an upper house debate last night on legislation dealing with firearm restrictions, the NSW Greens relayed the anecdote to illustrate how “firearms fall into the hands of children”.

“When I was 15 years old a friend of my father’s came to stay with us (in Hobart),” he said.

Buckingham said the incident took place when a friend of his father’s came to stay with his family and brought a gun. Picture: John Grainger

“He was a shooter, and he and his wife were estranged. Tasmania had particular laws that allowed him to carry a number of firearms, including a .22 calibre handgun.

“He was reloading the handgun before meeting his estranged wife. He was going to give her the handgun but he forgot it and left it in our house, next to the toilet.”

Mr Buckingham told of how he came home and went to the toilet.

“I looked across and there was a small, rusty handgun,” he said.

“I picked it up and walked out of the toilet, bouncing the gun in my hand. I had never seen a handgun in my life. I walked into the kitchen, put it underneath my brother’s chin and pulled the trigger.”

The Greens politician continued: “It clicked. I looked around. I pulled the trigger again and I blew a hole in the wall — gunpowder everywhere.”

“The only reason I did not kill my brother was that the first chamber of the revolver had been left empty,” he said.

“My father’s friend had inadvertently left that handgun in the house. Having firearms in the house did not make anyone safer.”

Mr Buckingham later said he had mistaken the weapon for a toy gun and did not realise it was real

Mr Buckingham said the experience has contributed to his opposition to “any attempt to water down the safe storage of firearms. I join my colleague Mr David Shoebridge in making that case.”

During that same debate, Liberal MLC Peter Phelps crossed the floor to support a Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party amendment aimed at changing pump-action shotguns from a category C weapon to the less restricted category B.

“I believe that pump action shotguns and lever action shotguns should be in the same category,” he said.

“I believe that pump action shotguns are currently mischaracterised as being in category C or category D. On that basis I believe that, while they should be in the same category, the current characterisations of pump action shotguns is a mischaracterisation of their lethality and thus they should be in category B.

“On that basis, lever action shotguns should also be in category B.”

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Originally published as Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham says he almost shot his brother in the face