Port Arthur handgun deal remembered

Ms Rhiannon said, “Less Australians would be killed and injured from firearms each year if it was not for the political deal struck after the Port Arthur massacre.

“With the One Nation vote rising in 1996 both the major parties lacked the courage to respond with the necessary tough legislation banning all semi-automatic firearms.

“The fact is that semi-automatic handguns can be freely bought and sold across Australia which means the border-control issue being raised by Prime Minister John Howard and Premier Bob Carr is irrelevant.

“Border-control is being raised in relations to guns and crime simply because it is a wedge-politics buzzword that makes it seem like foreigners are to blame for a problem politicians refuse to fix.

“While there is a massive legal stockpile of registered handguns, there is no point talking about the relatively small number of handguns smuggled into the country.

“A ban on handguns will make the job of police officers safer in domestic violence situations and in public criminal incidents such as robberies,” said Ms Rhiannon.

Ms Rhiannon founded the national advocacy group, the Coalition for Gun Control, in 1988.