Tasmania’s government has announced a raft of firearm reforms – to mixed responses across the community, including a key independent.
It comes two months after the Bondi terror attack – and after some criticisms the state government was taking too long to get to the table.
Reforms announced by the Premier and Police Minister including:
- Stronger penalties for theft and possession of stolen firearms
- Additional sharing of intelligence information and associated background checks
- Accelerating work on standing up the National Firearms Register
The government also announcing a two part gun buyback scheme alongside the federal government – offering 150% of the value of reclassified firearms to encourage surrender, as well as voluntary buyback at market value for any other legal firearm a license holder wants to hand in.
Jeremy Rockliff says the reform will make Tasmania safer, giving police and the courts more powers to crackdown on criminals caught in possession of an illegal firearm, Police Minister Felix Ellis saying the government has listened to community feedback, making strong and considered decisions.
CALLS FOR A CAP ON FIREARM NUMBERS
Franklin MP Peter George says it’s more than disappointing the state government won’t be imposing a firearms cap, calling it a failure of common sense.
Speaking with us, the Independent says he’ll work with crossbench members and across party lines to impose an ownership limit of no more than six guns.
“The overwhelming discussions I’ve had have been about the number of firearms that people own,” he said.
“I understand that farmers and rural dwellers require a number of different guns and that’s good because you need different tools for different jobs. You may want to kill your cow, you may want to shoot a feral deer or a feral pig, or need a .22 for rabbits.
“The majority of people that I’ve spoken to who use firearms on a daily basis say somewhere between four and six are plenty, you don’t need any more than that.
“The problem with having no cap on firearms is it just means that the country as well as the state swells the number of firearms that are available, and increases the number of potential accidents, the number of potential accidents, and the number of potential criminals that get their hands on them.”
A former Foreign Correspondent, Mr George has worked in war zones and says he understands what guns can do at the sharp end.
“I’m not suggesting that anyone in Tasmania would use it for those sorts of purposes,” he said.
“However everybody accepts the fact that guns are dangerous things to have. I’m saying it’s fine to love firearms, enjoy using them, go hunting, these are all things which are actually a privilege but I am yet to meet anyone who can argue with me and make a really strong point that actually owning more than four or six is actually necessary.”
Mr George flagging a potential motion in state parliament to restrict ownership numbers – saying it’s early days, but he has spoken with one cross bench member who says they’ll support the motion.
THE ALANNAH & MADELINE FOUNDATION ‘DEEPLY DISTURBED’
The foundation, founded by Walter Mikac AM who lost his wife and daughters during the Port Arthur massacre, says it’s deeply disturbing the Rockliff government has chosen to ignore the National Cabinet recommendation of caps on the number of firearms anyone can own.
Stephen Bendle, the Foundation’s advocacy advisor and the convenor of the Australian Gun Safety Alliance, says the state has flipflopped from opposing a buyback to now paying more for guns than any other jurisdiction.
“With the average Tasmanian gun owner owning less than five firearms, it is hard to explain why the government has decided not to follow other jurisdictions in introducing a cap of five firearms,” he said.
“A conservative estimate would be that fewer than ten thousand people in Tasmania, or around one percent of the state’s population, would be affected by these gun reforms that the Australian community, National Cabinet and Tasmanians themselves have called for.”
