Source : Perth Now news
A state opposition pledge to freeze a major buyback scheme and undo firearms restrictions has attracted mixed reactions.
Liberal leader Kellie Sloane is proposing a halt to NSW gun buyback plans while a commission of inquiry further examines the issue in the wake of the Bondi massacre.
The state scheme is set to begin on November 2 and will compensate licence holders for firearms under new ownership limits and the reclassification of certain weapons.
However, Ms Sloane said on Saturday she was more concerned about combating community safety threats including organised crime, gangland violence, terrorism and illegal trafficking.
Labor had rushed through complex legislation without proper stakeholder consultation, she said.
The comments drew a scathing response from Police and Counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley, who called the Liberal plan a “stunning backflip” that would leave more guns in circulation.
Ms Catley said the state’s latest protections had been put in place after the worst terror attack in NSW history.
“On an issue as serious as gun safety, the coalition has gone from supporting stronger laws after Bondi to promising to unwind them as One Nation campaigns for them to be repealed,” she said.
However, NSW Farmers president Rebecca Reardon welcomed the opposition move.
“Farmers understand the importance of strong firearms laws and safe communities,” she said.
“But good policy must also be practical, evidence-based and developed in genuine partnership with the people it affects.”Regardless of the political debate surrounding these reforms, NSW Farmers will continue advocating on behalf of its members to ensure they are treated fairly and have access to the tools they need to run successful and productive farm businesses.”
Licensed firearm owners, sporting shooters, collectors and firearms businesses have also lashed the government’s reaction to the Bondi shootings.
NSW tightened its laws in the days following the massacre by introducing gun ownership limits, reclassifying some types of weapons, boosting background checks and reducing firearms licences from five years to two.
In August, it also became the first state to sign on as a partner in the federal government’s gun buyback.
The ACT followed suit on August 22.
Ms Sloane said a NSW Liberal government would scrap Labor’s arbitrary firearm ownership caps for primary producers and competition sporting shooters with genuine and demonstrable needs.
“We will fix Labor’s flawed laws and back our police with the powers and resources they need,” she said.
The NSW buyback would also be frozen for all licensed firearm owners until a commission of inquiry completed its work and the government responded to its recommendations.
At the federal level, Nationals leader David Littleproud introduced a bill to repeal the scheme earlier in September as a symbolic act of resistance.
He said the buyback remained stalled, with Queensland, the Northern Territory and Victoria declining to participate, Tasmania pursuing its own arrangements, and South Australia refusing to change its laws.
