Council of Licensed Firearm Owners
It is premature to look at what has gone wrong here; we are waiting for the outcome of a thorough investigation before we comment. Once we know what has gone wrong, we can look for solutions to prevent this from ever happening again.
There are always aspects of legislation that need monitoring and modernising. The Council of Licensed Firearm Owners has engaged with police, for a number of years, through the Firearms Community Advisory Committee, to regularly review and modernise our legislation.
The law is effective at setting guidance and penalties for those who wish to be compliant. It is not effective for those who react to a situation without thinking or make a conscious decision to ignore the law. Laws have a greater chance of being effective when their writers have a complete understanding of what behaviour they are trying to prevent or encourage, defining some actions as illegal.
There are numerous examples of unintended consequences from hastily drafted law, including the following:
■ During the Australian buyback programme that followed the 1992 Port Arthur massacre, there was an increase in burglary and theft of firearms. Later it was learnt that organised crime groups were targeting firearms, handing them into authorities and using the money to buy better ones on the black market.
■ Also during the Australian buyback, after the fact, it was found individuals had legally imported firearm components as scrap metal in shipping containers. These components were then handed in to the authorities. Their intent was not criminal, but to profit from the technicalities of the law.
■ In Canada, the registration of all firearms was scrapped after a decade and a cost of C$2 billion. It never solved a crime or achieved the level of accuracy promised.
■ In New Zealand, legislation has been passed previously that has resulted in half the estimated number of firearms targeted not being registered.
■ Hasty implementation could result in isolating a segment of the community. People are angry that this has happened in our country. We are seeing intolerance of firearms owners being expressed. In frustration, the blame for the actions of one person is being focused on firearm owners.
■ Ann Widdecombe (a former British MP) lamented years later that the changes hastily made after the 1996 Dunblane massacre did not produce the desired results. The most notable effect she could see was that the UK could no longer compete in sports competitions.