Western Australian police have made an effort to save at least some of the historic or collectible firearms handed in during the state’s recent ‘buyback’, sparing them from the explosive or crushing fate shared by the rest of the approximately 40,000 surrendered guns.
Shooters Union Western Australia WA state advocate Steve Harrison wrote to the Western Australia Police Commissioner, Col Blanch, asking for clarification about the fate of historic and collectible firearms which had been handed in.
WAPOL was quick to reply, with a spokesman stating a list of firearms with potential historic or collectible value was provided to WAPOL at the beginning of the buyback.
A WAPOL spokesman said a list of possibly historical or collectible firearms was given to WAPOL at the start of the buyback, and any guns identified from the list were set aside for review.
The Royal Western Australian Historical Society and the Western Australia Police Historical Society reviewed each of these set aside for historical value, while the Western Australia Police Force Firearms Library reviewed guns set aside for collectible value.
“Any such firearms were then donated to either the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, the Western Australia Police Historical Society or the Western Australia Police Force Firearms Library,” the spokesman said.
They did, however, concede that some firearms of historical or collectible value may still have been destroyed – a likelihood is regrettably almost a certainty.
Some of the PR photos of guns being delivered to the scrapyard for crushing include at least one Lee-Enfield No 4 rifle, a Mauser rifle, and a 19th century hammer shotgun.
Mr Harrison said while he was pleased historic or collectible guns hadn’t automatically been crushed or blown up, that didn’t change the fact they were only at risk in the first place because of the rammed-through anti-firearm laws passed by the ALP Government.
“Obviously we’re pleased WAPOL seem to have made a proper effort to identify historic or collectible guns so they weren’t destroyed, but ideally the situation shouldn’t exist in the first place because the laws shouldn’t have been changed the way they were,” he said.
“There’s also the fact that the ‘buyback’ payments for historic or collectible guns were miles below what those guns are actually worth, leaving the people who handed them in significantly out of pocket.
“We also know historic and collectible guns were destroyed, because we’ve seen photos of them in the piles of guns at the scrapyard being readied for destruction.
“It’s utterly shameful that law-abiding people have been treated with such contempt by the WA Government and I sincerely hope the election results next year reflect that sentiment.”
0 Comments