Liberals propose shock watering down of gun laws in Tasmania
DONALD Trump has been urged to look to Australia for inspiration with gun laws, but a divisive plan to water down the tough legislation could change John Howard’s legacy.
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DONALD Trump has been urged to look to Australia for inspiration with gun laws, but a divisive plan to water down the tough legislation could change John Howard’s legacy.
Tasmania’s Liberal government has secretly proposed a plan to weaken tough gun legislation in a controversial policy released to the gun lobby, according to The Australian.
On the eve of the Tasmanian state election, the Liberals’ plan to shake-up the state’s firearm laws has been revealed in bombshell detail, with the government describing the move as “common sense”.
The move is backed by shooters and farmers, with opposition parties accusing Liberals of trying to secure last minute votes.
The proposed policy includes extending the limit on gun licence duration from five years to 10, downgrading of “lesser” breaches of firearm storage laws to the level of infringement notices rather than court summons, and ending mandatory weapon confiscation in such “lesser” cases.
It would also extend ownership of Category C weapons, including pump-action and rapid-fire shotguns, to a broader range of sporting shooters.
MORE: Donald Trump is ‘open’ to tougher gun laws
The proposal has been slammed by gun-control lobbyists as “reckless” and “a square breach” of the National Firearms Agreement.
Many of the changes would free up use of firearms on farms.
Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman defended the divisive plan to loosen firearm laws, saying his Liberal team were trying to support farmers without defying the agreement struck in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre.
“We are as a state very aware of the sensitivities around these issues,” he told ABC radio this morning.
“We are seeking to find an appropriate balance — one which supports our families that work in the rural sector but which is not inconsistent with national gun laws.”
Tasmanian fat-lamb farmer Mike Johnston supported the changes, saying the post Port-Arthur gun laws affected farmers’ use of guns, mainly for the purpose to control lurking animals and humanely kill sick and injured stock.
“For primary producers, firearms are a tool of the trade; they are no different to me than a shovel or a crowbar,” Mr Johnston told The Australian.
“If I go out to shoot wallaby for crop protection, they are in plague proportions and I may pull up at times and need to shoot six to 10 wallabies.
“If I have to reload in between, those wallabies will disappear.”
Roland Browne, Hobart-based lawyer and vice-chairman of Gun Control Australia, said the policy was a clear breach of the NFA, enforced by then-prime minister John Howard in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
“This policy will see an increase in the sales of Catergory C weapons, silencers and ammunition. It will take Tasmania back to the days where we had a reputation as the shooting capital of Australia,” Mr Browne told the publication.
“(It) is reckless. It is also astonishing because it is being pushed by the party that responded so well to the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, and by a Police Minister who (last year) so bravely reformed Tasmania’s storage laws.”
The proposal was not published on the Liberal Party’s website but instead was sent to the Sporting Shooters Association.
The Greens accused the Liberals of sneakily attempting to secure votes.
The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association and the Sporting Shooters Association welcomed the changes as necessary, dispelling the idea weapons would end up in the wrong hands.
Sporting Shooters president Andrew Judd said current restrictions prevented sportsmen from entering some global rifle competitions, such as those using 10-shot semiautomatic 22s.
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