A petition to the Victorian Upper House calling on the state government to reject firearms law changes without proper consultation will be tabled and discussed in state parliament after exceeding the threshold for formal recognition.
The petition, sponsored by Nationals MP and Shadow Outdoor Recreation Minister Melina Bath, received 12,570 signatures and was formally tabled in the Legislative Council on February 18.
The petition reads:
The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council the Victorian Government’s decision to undertake a review of Victoria’s firearm laws which is to be conducted by former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner, Mr Ken Lay AO APM.
Public pressure to act quickly may result in rushed or ineffective decisions. Victoria already has some of the strictest firearm laws in the nation and serious incidents have consistently involved failures in intelligence, monitoring or enforcement, often where individuals were already known to authorities, rather than gaps in legislation.
Ideologically driven or hasty changes risk unfairly penalising responsible, law-abiding firearm owners without improving public safety or reducing the risk of terrorism or serious crime.
The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to commit to enforcing existing firearm laws, including identifying gaps in compliance, enforcement and resourcing, ensure that the review of legislation is evidence-led and without a pre-determined assumption that further restrictions on lawful owners are required, reject any new firearm regulations unless there is clear, publicly available evidence that it will improve public safety, guarantee genuine consultation with law-abiding firearm owners, sporting and hunting organisations before any policy or legislative changes are drafted and ensure the review separates law-abiding firearms owners from acts of terror so the response is fair and proportionate.
Ms Bath said the debate was scheduled for the Legislative Council on Wednesday, 1 April and would be led by her as petition sponsor.
“The petition calls for laws that are firm, fair and focused on the real risk, including tougher penalties for trafficking and theft of firearms,” she said.
“Rushed and non evidence-based changes to firearm laws have potential to impact the many responsible, law-abiding firearm owners without improving public safety or reducing the risk of terrorism or serious crime.”
The Victorian Government has commissioned a “rapid review” into the state’s firearm laws, led by former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay AO APM.
Another Victorian petition, calling on the government to “stop further changes to gun laws” and sponsored by Legislation Council One Nation MP Ricky-Lee Tyrell, closes on 28 February and has almost 26,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, two record-setting petitions in NSW are still open.
A Legislative Assembly (lower house) petition, set up by SSAA NSW president Lance Miller and calling for “firearms policy and legislation [that] is proportionate, evidence-based, and clearly distinguishes licensed firearms owners from criminal or terrorist actors,” closes on 13 March and is just short of 100,000 signatures as this story was published.
One before the Legislative Council (upper house), backed by Libertarian Upper House MP John Ruddick and calling on the NSW Government to delay its rushed firearms laws, which has more than 64,000 signatures at time of writing and is still open until 13 March.
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