Posted on 02/18/2003 5:36:16 AM PST by Mulder
Police will be able to enter houses without a warrant and seize handguns belonging to sporting shooters if the owner failed to attend sufficient competitions under proposed tough new firearms laws.
And people found with banned pistols could be liable for prison sentences of up to 10 years, according to those who have seen the legislation, which was prompted by the Monash University shootings last year.
But the new laws, expected to be introduced into the Victorian Parliament by early March, have sparked outrage from some shooters, who claim it threatens to decimate their sport.
The laws are designed to ensure only legitimate sporting shooters can keep their guns stored at home.
Recent federal customs changes, which limit the import or export of handguns, have already resulted in shooters being unable to compete in some international competitions or attract competitors to Australian tournaments, according to David Barton of the Victorian branch of the Sporting Shooters Association.
Up to half of the state's pistol shooters will leave the sport as a result of the state and federal laws, Mr Barton said. "Whether these are the intended or unintended consequences is a moot point, but all of this will add nothing to public safety," he said.
Premier Steve Bracks confirmed during the week that handgun laws would be among the first laws to be introduced by the second-term Labor Government. All states agreed to a crackdown on handguns after the deaths of two students and the wounding of five more at Monash University in October last year.
But a spokesman for Police and Corrections Minister Andre Haermeyer said the Government could not comment further on the proposals because they had not yet been approved by cabinet.
The Federal and state governments agreed to the broad outlines of a ban of semi-automatic handguns and some other varieties of hand-guns two months ago. Government officials are cautiously optimistic that the finer details will be agreed at the next Council of Australian Governments meeting, in time for the buyback to begin on July 1, as scheduled.
Once the states pass the laws, more than 500 different models of handguns will become illegal and a $100 million nationwide buyback program will begin. The ban is expected to remove from circulation about 20 per cent of Australia's 166,000 licensed handguns.
Brett Inder, an associate professor at Monash and one of the men who disarmed the alleged shooter, welcomed the new laws.
Mr Inder said he was happy to see sporting shooters have access to pistols but added that handguns should not be stored at home in the wider community. "The sooner and stronger, the better," Mr Inder said of the new laws.
Police Association secretary Paul Mullett said he welcomed the new laws, particularly in the present uncertain environment, but said it would be an extra burden on resources.
"We are hoping that the Government will deliver on its promise of an extra 600 new police officers," he said.
If you're going to get 10 years for mere possession of a handgun in Australian, you might as well go for broke and do stuff that could bring an equivelent or greater sentence.
It would only take a few dozen patriotic Australians to shake things up over there.
yep, this surprises me as well. But - things are little different here.
Crime hits 1 in 3 Britons
ONE in three British adults has been hit by crime in the past 12 months, a shock survey revealed yesterday.
But half of victims did not bother telling police - because they thought it would be a waste of time.
Of those who did report crimes, a fifth claimed cops failed even to respond. And the number of criminals who were caught and punished was a paltry 13 per cent.
The study of 17,000 adults nationwide shows crime is rising by nearly ten per cent more than government figures admit and means 17 million people suffered a crime last year.
The most common offences were vandalism, thefts from cars, house burglaries and fraud.
Crime expert Mike Hough, of South Bank University, said: "I used to say fear of crime was a problem in its own right. Now I realise people are right to worry."
Alastair McKee, 25, was among the one in five people who were targeted at least TWICE.
He said of burglars who took more than £1,000 of goods from his Bath home: "I hope they are sent to prison and they throw away the key."
or, maybe they DO; and therein lies the problem...
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