Premier Will Hodgman vows Tasmania’s gun laws will not be watered down

UPDATED: A Parliamentary Committee inquiry was needed to figure out where the Government stands on the state’s gun laws, Labor says.

A Parliamentary Committee inquiry was needed to figure out where the government stands on the state’s gun laws, Labor leader Rebecca White said.

It was revealed shortly before the March 2018 state election that the Government was considering changes to gun laws including giving farmers greater access to Category C firearms such as semiautomatic rifles, self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns, and increase the duration of some licences to 10 years.

The policy was abandoned in August last year.

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GOVERNMENT DROPS PLAN TO WATER DOWN GUN LAWS

Mr White said the public deserved certainty.

“The community of Tasmania want this Government to commit to transparency and proper consultation on something as important as this and our expectation is that that committee be reviewed.

“Tasmanians understand probably better than anybody how harrowing it can be to experience a violent incident like we’ve seen in Christchurch.

“The gun laws that we saw changed in this state and the country after Port Arthur have affected many of us personally so we want to make sure that we don’t have a watering down of our gun laws in this state and that is why the government needs to be transparent around any of its proposals to change gun laws and that’s why the committee needs to be reconvened.”

A Legislative Council committee was abandoned last year, after receiving more than 100 submissions, after Mr Hodgman announced the policy shift.

A House of Assembly Committee inquiry was due to report last week, but was thrown into disarray by the resignation of member Liberal Adam Brooks and the proroguing of parliament. The Government has promised to reconstitute the committee.

Premier Will Hodgman on Monday said his policy was clear.

“Tasmania’s firearms laws are among the toughest in the world and that is how they will remain,” he said

“As I have said very clearly over the past year, my Government will do nothing to undermine the National Firearms Agreement or to weaken our gun laws in any way.

“In August last year, the Government clearly stated that we would not progress the previously announced firearms law proposals.

“I can reassure Tasmanians once again that we have no plans to change firearms laws, and our overriding principle will always be that we will not do anything to weaken gun laws.”

The Premier says the Government won’t do anything to weaken gun laws.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the Government needed to show leadership and tighten gun laws.

“What people are looking for is strong messages of love and inclusion and they’re looking for leadership on issues like gun violence,” she said.

TASMANIA NEEDS TOUGHER, NOT WEAKER, GUN LAWS

The National Firearms Agreement — forged in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre — placed tight restrictions on the ownership of fully and semi-automatic weapons and imposed tighter rules around justifications for owning and using firearms and how they are stored and limited gun licences to five years.

Former prime minister John Howard moved rapidly to ban semiautomatics after the Port Arthur massacre, which saw Martin Bryant use similar AR-15 assault rifles to murder 35 people.

Mr Howard on Monday said he was confident there would be “universal acceptance” of tighter gun laws in New Zealand.

“They certainly are looser laws — much looser laws — than exist in Australia and I’m certain in the wake of this there would be a united resolve across the political scene in that country to do something,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

“I think there’d be universal acceptance across the political divide in New Zealand.”

The former Liberal PM described the attack as a “terrible tragedy”.

“I join everybody else in condemning the attitudes of anybody, anywhere on the political spectrum — right, left or centre — that could possibly give rise to the hatred and prejudice that led to this occurring,” he said.

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