Gun law changes backed

Ex-policeman who led Port Arthur response calls for relaxed rules

FORMER policeman and Legislative Councillor Tony Mulder has urged the State Government to push on with proposed gun law changes.

Mr Mulder said he supported the National Firearms Agreement but there needed to be changes to Tasmanian gun laws so that farmers could control browsing animals.

Mr Mulder’s views come amid a backlash from Tasmanians about the Government’s planned changes to gun laws — the opposition coming from Port Arthur victims to former premier Tony Rundle and former prime minister John Howard. All are pushing for no change.

“As the police logistics commander during Port Arthur, I know what military- style guns can do,” Mr Mulder told the Mercury.

He said he had faced a criminal pointing a weapon at his head and witnessed many murder scenes during his police career.

However, he said, Police Minister Rene Hidding had negotiated proposed gun law changes with farmers and needed to go ahead with them rather than backdown because of public pressure.

“I believe in a need to bear arms, not a right to bear arms, and we need to look at who needs them as tools of trade,” he said.

Mr Mulder said he had not seen the full changes proposed by Mr Hidding including the extension of licences from five years to 10 years.

But he said that high-power, high-calibre reasonably rapid fire weapons were needed for animal control purposes.

“At the moment there are Category C five-shot shotguns and that may go to seven-shot, but I’m not sure that after two shots you need a shotgun because if you haven’t hit it in two it is going to run away,” he said.

Mr Mulder said that people would need a bigger weapon than a .22 to control feral deer.

“The Liberals have negotiated these changes with the farming community and now they are showing all the signs of weakening and pandering to the public pressure,” he said.

Mr Mulder said that as the member for Rumney he had amended several bills to lessen penalties for breach of storage regulations.

“Some of those penalties were three times what was happening in Victoria,” he said.

The Legislative Council is likely to conduct an inquiry into the gun law changes which were low profile until the day before the March 3 election.