Tasmanian Police Minister Felix Ellis has slammed a journalist for “victim blaming” after asking a question that implied the gun owner was at fault when he was beaten, tied up and had his house burnt down.
Three men have since been arrested over the robbery, in which 76-year-old Grant Whelan had nine firearms and his car stolen early last Saturday morning.
Police allege the men broke into Mr Whelan’s house, assaulted him, tied him and dragged him outside before setting his house alight and leaving him to watch it burn to the ground.
At a press conference, the journalist asked, “Isn’t it the case, though, that if there are more people with firearms, it’s more likely that robbery like this will occur?”
Mr Ellis immediately stepped forward and said the question was “the most outrageous example of victim blaming”.
“Our hearts go out to this fella,” he said of Mr Whelan, “and this is an awful event that has happened to him. It is a crime.
“To say that he’s the problem, I think that’s just totally wrong.”
His comments have been welcomed by the shooting community, which has been targeted more heavily than ever since the Bondi terrorist attack last December.
Police and politicians in various states have been making comments linking law-abiding firearm owners with terrorism, gangland shooting and other crime, promising to “take guns off our streets” but without making any legitimate links between legal firearm ownership and crime rates.
The Ellis said Tasmania needed stronger penalties for gun-related crimes.
“It’s the criminals that are the problem,” he said, “and the criminals we need to take action on.
“For people in the media and others to say that law-abiding firearms owners are the problem in this case is absolutely wrong and disgraceful.”
Meanwhile, Mr Whelan has been released from hospital and is recovering, his family says.
A fundraiser for him has already passed halfway to its goal of raising $150,000 to help him rebuild.
Mr Whelan, who won a bravery award for a sea rescue in 1993, is the president of the Glamorgan Gun and Rifle Club.
“Dad has spent his life helping other people, as anyone who knows him will tell you,” the family wrote on his fundraising page.
“Now he has to recover from this attack and rebuild from nothing, and for once he’s the one who needs a hand.”
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