Port Arthur massacre remembered – time to ban semi-automatic pistols

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Reports marking yesterday’s anniversay of the Port Arthur massacre understandably got caught up in coverage of the book Born or Bred, an indepth look at the life of Martin Bryant.

It is understandable that we are curious about why one person would intentionally engage in a mass shooting of their fellow human beings. The Port Arthur massacre still rates as the world’s worst mass shooting perpetrated by a single individual - 35 were killed and 21 wounded.

But it is unfortunate that the wide interest in the book swamped consideration of the state of firearm laws in Australia. Right now gun law reform is going backwards in NSW.

Back in 1996, in the aftermath of the massacre, government leaders quickly responded to the need for greater regulation of firearms.  I pay credit to then prime minister John Howard for his strong leadership on this issue.

The result was the Nationwide Agreement on Firearms (NAF), which introduced the ban on semi-automatic rifles. The NAF committed the federal and state governments to the registration of all firearms and the licensing of firearm owners.

But 13 years later this agreement has been undermined, and NSW is the worst culprit, with five of the eleven resolutions that make up the NAF now breached.

Reform is again urgently needed. In 1996 the job was only half done.  The ban on semi-automatic rifles went through with no arguments In the immediate aftermath of the Port Arthur horror.

Now we need to finish the job and ban semi-automatic handguns.

The weakening of gun control laws in NSW has been backed by Labor and the Coalition parties with the obvious support of the Shooters Party.

Changes to the Firearms Act that went through last June allow unlicensed people to access and use guns at shooting clubs, remove waiting times for licensed owners buying additional guns and weaken penalties for breaches of the Act.

Other changes passed in December last year make it easier for men subject to domestic violence orders to have their weapons returned, and it is now simpler for gun owners to hold multiple firearms.

In the NSW Upper House Labor does not have the numbers in their own right and they often depend on the vote of the two Shooters MPs to pass unpopular legislation.

The power of the gun lobby is considerable. The conservative parties regularly support their agenda, backing law changes and supporting large funding grants for gun clubs, while refusing to tighten up on the availability of guns.

The double standards were on display in the recent debate on gang related violence. Both Premier Nathan Rees and opposition leader Barry O’Farrell failed to address the clear need for improved gun control.

Much of the gang violence involves semi-automatic pistols. These guns should be banned. The Australian Institute of Criminology has revealed  that the bulk of firearms start out life as legally owned weapons so a change to the law would be an important control measure and a smarter way to deal with gang violence.

The gang laws rushed through the NSW parliament earlier this year were a missed opportunity to ban semi-automatic pistols.

It will be tragic if it takes another massacre to push Labor and the Coalition parties to ban all semi-automatics and tighten up the breaches of the Nationwide Agreement on Firearms.