As Victoria considers gun law reform, owners say the details matter

The State Government is preparing to push through proposed gun law reforms, with consultation set to close on Tuesday.

While politicians and members of the public have encouraged the reform, arguing the changes would ensure the safety of the community, the proposal has raised concerns from professional and recreational shooters – including in Melbourne’s east – who say they are being unfairly targeted in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack.

🇦🇺 Federal changes: On Tuesday January 20, the Federal Government passed a suite of new gun laws that will:

• Fund a national gun buyback, with the specifics of the buyback to be settled with the states and territories;

• Strengthen background checks;

• Restrict non-citizens from importing firearms;

• Tighten importation rules around straight-pull rifles, shotguns, handguns and gel blasters, and remove open-ended permissions to import firearms, and;

• Add new offences for sharing or downloading online instructions for how to make or modify weapons.

👂 Consultation open: The State Government also launched a review of its firearm laws, which will consider restricting the types of firearms and gun modifications that are legal and introducing Australian citizenship as a condition for holding a firearms licence.

• Public consultation for the review closes on Tuesday February 3.

🎯 Are gun club guns different? Victorian Muzzle Loaders Club president John Wakely told the West Vic Brolga there should be restrictions on a range of weapons, but lumping every gun into the same category was a mistake.

• 🗣️ “There are a lot of firearms in society that really shouldn't be there: high capacity, rapid-fire shotguns and high-velocity ammunition,” said Wakely. “They have a place for pest controllers and farmers, but people like me and the average Joe, I don't think so.”

• Wakely said the guns used by most gun clubs are fundamentally different to rapid-fire guns. 

• 🗣️ “I think there's about 16 separate steps in loading a muzzle loading, flint lock or percussion firearm,” said Wakely. “They're not huge rates of fire.”

😡 Local concerns: Dave Rowland, a professional culler who provides his services to Yarra Ranges, Knox and Manningham councils, said the potential impacts of proposed reforms would place more restrictions on his business, as he would have to overcome additional barriers to secure gun licences for his employees.

• 🗣️ “Guns don't kill people, people kill people,” Rowland told the Eastern Melburnian. “The politicians are so out of touch with reality, it is beyond belief.”

⏭️ What’s next: The Victorian government has pledged to consider a final report from the review in March and pass the reforms soon after, with Premier Jacinta Allan saying she was ready to enact the changes.

• 🗣️ “We do need to look at the strengthening of laws to stamp out this behaviour,” said Allan.

• Victorian Greens leader and Melbourne MP Ellen Sandell has come out in support of the review, saying Victoria has seen a “creeping increase in guns”, with recent figures showing about 960,000 guns were legally owned across the state.

• 🗣️ “When Port Arthur happened, governments came together and took decisive action,” said Sandell. “We stand ready to return to Parliament to work with the government to bring that same unity and resolve now.”

Image Credit: New Jersey National Guard and NJDMA