Tasmanian medics have taken aim at proposed changes to gun laws in pre-election promises

MORE first responders to the Port Arthur massacre have joined the growing group of medical professionals fighting against proposed changes to state gun laws.

MORE first responders to the Port Arthur massacre have joined the growing group of medical professionals fighting against proposed changes to state gun laws.

Nine members of the Medics for Gun Control group yesterday called on the Tasmanian Government to abandon its controversial firearms policies during a press conference in Hobart.

The state branch of the Liberal Party has been under attack after revealing it would loosen restrictions on some semi-automatic weapons and double licence periods on the eve of the state election in March.

MORE: DOCTORS FIGHT AGAINST GUN LAW CHANGES

Social worker and HACSU delegate Pru Peschar said the current laws needed to be maintained for public safety.

“Twenty-two years ago I was called out on the night of the Port Arthur massacre and I saw first hand the devastation that was wreaked by one person with one gun,” she said.

“It was horrific. We never want that again. We must resist any attempt to water down or to change our laws that occurred as a result of the Port Arthur massacre.”

Brian Walpole, who was the senior emergency doctor at the Royal Hobart Hospital on the day of the Port Arthur massacre, said weakened gun laws would result in more deaths.

“If guns aren’t safely stored, licensed and registered, then more people will die. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“You’ve got a uniform set of rules right across the country that work, have enormous public support and have cut the gun death rate enormously. Why would you tamper with that? It’s beyond belief.”

Nine delegates met at the Salamanca Inn to discuss the merits of relaxing parts of Tasmanian gun laws. Representatives of GPs, nurses, first responders, mental health advocates and other groups met today to send a strong message to the State Government to keep its gun laws as some of the best in the world. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Addiction medicine expert Associate Professor Adrian Reynolds said it was wrong to link gun violence to an individual suffering addiction or mental health problems.

“There is no better way to increase gun related morbidity and mortality in Tasmania than to weaken gun control laws and make access to guns easier,” he said.

Alannah and Madeline Foundation Advocacy Manager Stephen Bendle said the election promise would “clearly breach” the National Firearms Agreement.

The National Firearms Agreement of 1996 placed tighter restrictions on the ownership of semi-automatic weapons and imposed tighter rules around their use and how they’re stored.

It also specifies a maximum licence period of five years.

Premier Will Hodgman said he would stand by a parliamentary inquiry into the proposed changes.

“This is another group who we welcome having their say about it,” he said.