New South Wales Shooters and Fishers Party MLCs Robert Borsak and Robert Brown have welcomed the release of a Federal Government report into gun violence in Australia that has found further restrictions on law abiding firearm owners will not address gun violence.
Mr Brown labelled the inquiry a stunt by the Greens that had badly backfired for them.
“This is a 167-page report that says exactly what the Shooters and Fishers Part has been saying for twenty years – more restrictions on law abiding firearm owners won’t address gun violence.”
Mr Brown welcomed the report’s finding that the majority of firearms owners “abide by the laws applying to them and their firearms, and use their firearms in a responsible way.”
“This is what we’ve been saying all along!” said Mr Brown.
Mr Brown said he was also pleased to see , for the first time, acknowledgment that the illegal importation of firearms was increasing.
“Groups like the Greens, and Gun Control Australia, have been propagating these lies for years that all illegal firearms have been stolen from law abiding firearm owners, and it’s just not true.”
NSW Police submitted that “the illegal importation of firearms, especially modern handguns and assault rifles, is a key driver of gun crime in NSW” and cited a “big influx in illegal importation in NSW.”
Shooters and Fishers Party MLC Robert Borsak noted that the majority of Committee Members had been forced to admonish the Chair of the inquiry, Greens Senator Penny Wright, for making misleading statements.
“It’s about time the extreme Greens were pulled into line over their constant vilification of law abiding firearm owners,” said Mr Borsak.
Mr Borsak welcomed submissions by law enforcement agencies that said further submissions would not have an impact on gun violence.
“For years the Greens have called for a complete ban on semi-automatic handguns, but the clear evidence from their own inquiry has determined it has no impact on crime.”
Mr Brown said that while the Shooters and Fishers Party request to address the public hearings has been decline, he welcomed input from hunting and shooting clubs as well as individual shooters from around Australia.
“Presented with facts, it is heartening to see that the Committee was able to put aside the Greens spin and acknowledge once and for all that law abiding firearm owners are not the problem and that more needs to be done to combat the access criminals have to illegal firearms.”
Mr Borsak called on the Federal Government to follow the lead of Canada who recently removed the requirement for registration of longarms.
“Tens of millions of dollars currently wasted annually on the registration of firearms could be better spent on crime prevention and border security,” said Mr Borsak.
Both Mr Borsak and Mr Brown also welcomed the Committee’s recommendation that a comprehensive study be undertaken to demonstrate the social, economic and environmental benefits of hunting across Australia.
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