Verbal shots fired in parliament this week over alleged ‘horse-trading’ between the Turnbull government and Senator David Leyonjhelm, have reignited the gun laws debate in Australia.
There were allegations a deal had been done for the federal government to re-consider the importation ban on the Adler A-110 shot-lever manual shotgun in exchange for Senator Leyonjhelm’s vote on industrial relations reform.
Ex-police officer James Minaway said the focus should be redirected to unregistered firearms.
“Nearly every call we got—every job we got called out to—involved unregistered firearms,” Mr Minaway said.
“It’s concerning that more attention isn’t being paid to all the guns that were left unregistered and still in circulation after the 1996 reforms, those registered guns rendered unregistered as a result of theft and those on the black market.”
The Howard government imposed stringent and swift restrictions on the importation and registration of firearms in Australia following the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre,
Despite international acclaim for its gun laws, Australian gun-crime statistics remain largely unchanged.
Convicted for possession of unregistered firearms, Sam Kardoch said the effectiveness of gun laws was limited to those who to abide by them.
“As long as there are wars going on in the world, there will be guns on our streets. Politicians can continue to turn a blind eye, but the truth of the matter is that guns and crime are interrelated,” Mr Karadoch said.
“Loop holes will always reveal themselves; you just need to know which hoops to jump and which people to mingle with.”
The controversial rapid-fire Adler A-110 remains on the banned list, as state police ministers failed to reach an agreement on its reclassification.
Ministers instead agreed to a firearms amnesty to commence mid-2017. The amnesty will will allow Australians in possession of unregistered firearms to surrender them without penalty.
“Most of the unregistered firearms out there are due to people retaining them after the last amnesty in 1996,” Mr Minaway said.
“Let’s hope there’s more success this time around.”