The Tasmanian Greens today welcomed the Police Minister’s announcement that gun laws will be strengthened, but expressed concern that there still is no clear strategy to clamp down on handguns in the community.
Greens Police and Emergency Services spokesperson, Paul O’Halloran MP, said that the Minister still had a responsibility to publicly release the recommendations from the review of the Firearms Act 1996, as there is a valid public interest in the community knowing if the reforms reflect all, or only some, of the matters raised in the review.
“The unfortunate fact is that we do not know how many unregistered firearms there are in circulation within the Tasmanian community and each one presents a threat to public safety,” said Mr O’Halloran.
“When asked about hand guns in parliament this morning, the Minister failed to outline any sort of strategy to minimise the harm caused by their presence in the community.”
“Hand guns in particular must be addressed as they are designed specifically to be easily concealed and there are very few circumstances in which a civilian would need to have one in their possession.”
“A hand gun can be easily concealed on a person or kept in an easily accessible place and is a lot more convenient to operate than a long barrelled firearm.”
“The reforms that the Minister has outlined so far are promising, but the Greens would like to see tougher restrictions.”
“The amount of guns in Tasmania in general is growing and we know that on average people are keeping larger collections of guns than was the case a decade ago. We need to ensure that these firearms are properly regulated and that public safety is the absolute first priority,” Mr O’Halloran said.
Paul O‘Halloran MP Greens Police and Emergency Services Spokesperson
