Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto calls out Labor government over proposed changes to gun licensing

Proposed changes to Queensland’s weapons licensing laws have been labelled by Katter’s Australia Party as a ‘devious attempt by Labor to try and sneak in gun law changes.’

Hinchinbrook MP and KAP Deputy Leader Nick Dametto. Picture supplied.

Proposed changes to Queensland’s weapons licensing laws have been labelled by the Katter Australia Party as a ‘devious attempt’ by Labor to try and sneak in gun law changes.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan introduced the bill on May 1 citing plans to expand Jack’s Law, a legislation which will see metal-detecting wands be used to detect knives being carried in public places.

The law was established following the stabbing death of Jack Beasley in 2019 on the Gold Coast and was passed in March 2023 and subsequently commencing in April 2023.

The bill also proposes to ‘introduce a firearms prohibition order scheme in Queensland’, ‘a verification process for purchasing small arms ammunition’ and ‘reform the ‘fit and proper person’ test in the Weapons Act 1990.

The bill would do this by expanding the types of serious offending captured, introducing a new category of disqualified persons, and, in certain circumstances, extending the exclusionary period to 10 years, according to the Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee website.

Hinchinbrook MP and KAP Deputy Leader Nick Dametto. Picture supplied.

The KAP said shooting industry groups, their members and the broader Queensland community have raised serious concerns about the proposed changes to weapons licensing laws contained within a recently introduced Labor Government bill.

“What was first promoted as a bill that would make some positive changes to youth crime, such as the removal of detention as a last resort, was very quickly discovered to be just another assault on the rights of those law-abiding firearm owners in our community,” Mr Dametto said.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - MAY 1, 2024. Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan speaks during a press conference at Parliament House in Brisbane. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

“I’m just as outraged about the contents of the bill as I am about the egregious lack of time afforded for public consultation and feedback.”

Owner of Pagan Firearms in Townsville, Mr Anthony Pagan said the proposed bill would not only affect his business and the firearm industry it was also everyday Queenslander’s that stand to be affected by what the KAP calls ‘draconian changes’.

“We see this legislation as targeted towards licensed firearm owners and reducing the number of legal firearms in the community and attacking the dealers,” Mr Pagan said.

“It contains nothing about reducing the number of illegal firearms out in the community.”

Mr Dametto said he had recently called on the Police Minister and the Community Safety and Legal Affairs Committee to extend the submission period for the bill by six weeks.

“It was no surprise to learn that the committee chair responded with lighting speed to say that the submission and reporting dates would remain the same, and no extension would be granted,” he said.

“There is more at stake here than appeasing anti-gun campaigners. They aren’t the only ones out there who vote or matter. This ill-conceived bill contains real consequences for good Queenslanders.”

In response to this Minister for Police and Community Safety Mark Ryan said consultation was undertaken with key stakeholders prior to introduction of the Bill, including with the Shooters Union.

“In addition, I offered to brief the Leader of the Katter’s Australia Party on the Bill,” he said.

Mr Ryan said the The Queensland Community Safety Bill 2024 has been referred to the Community Safety, and Legal Affairs Committee for six weeks for their consideration.

“The committee independently decides how it will conduct its business, and I have been advised that while the closing date for submission is May 16, all stakeholders and interested parties are able to contact the Committee Secretariat for an extension to the deadline,”he said.

Mr Ryan disagreed with the claim that the bill ‘contains nothing about reducing the number of illegal firearms out in the community’, stating the Bill’s mentioning of Firearm Prohibition Orders which can be issued against high-risk individuals..

“These are not new proposals,” Mr Ryan said.

“The Bill seeks to implement a number of key firearms safety enhancements flowing from the Queensland Audit Office’s Regulating Firearms Report which was published in 2020 and the implementation of a Firearms Prohibition Order Scheme that is in place in almost every Australian state.”

Originally published as Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto calls out Labor government over proposed changes to gun licensing