No watering down of gun stance, says Premier
A PARLIAMENTARY Committee inquiry was needed to figure out where the Government stands on the state’s gun laws, Labor leader Rebecca White said.
It was revealed shortly before the March 2018 state election that the Government was considering changes to gun laws, including giving farmers greater access to Category C firearms such as semiautomatic rifles, self-loading rifles and pump-action shotguns, and increase the duration of some licences to 10 years.
The policy was abandoned in August last year.
Mr White said the deserved certainty.
“The community of Tasmania want this Government to commit to transparency and public proper consultation on something as important as this and our expectation is that that committee be reviewed.”
A Legislative Council committee was abandoned last year after receiving more than 100 submissions, after Mr Hodgman announced the policy shift.
A House of Assembly Committee inquiry was due to report last week, but was thrown into disarray by the resignation of Liberal member Adam Brooks and the proroguing of parliament. The Government has promised to reconstitute the committee.
Premier Will Hodgman yesterday said his policy was clear.
“Tasmania’s firearms laws are among the toughest in the world and that is how they will remain,” he said
“As I have said very clearly over the past year, my Government will do nothing to undermine the National Firearms Agreement or to weaken our gun laws in any way.”
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the Government needed to show leadership and tighten gun laws.
“What people are looking for is strong messages of love and inclusion and they’re look- ing for leadership on issues like gun violence,” she said.
The National Firearms Agreement — forged in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre — placed tight restrictions on the ownership of fully and semiautomatic weapons and imposed tighter rules around justifications for owning and using firearms and how they are stored, and limited gun licences to five years.