AUSTRALIA prides itself on its gun laws and after Port Arthur, no one wants to see them relaxed.
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But listening to political debate about the Adler A110 lever action shotgun, it’s difficult to say where this one should sit.
After the Lindt Cafe siege, the Abbott government banned imports of the eight-shot gun pending a review of lever action weapons.
The technology has been around for more than a century and the guns have until recently been allowed in Australia under category A licences, which include the lowest-powered weapons.
As member for Orange Phil Donato points out, it is not a semi-automatic and it’s certainly not the same as the Colt AR-15 SP1 Carbine Martin Bryant used at Port Arthur, which had a 30-round magazine.
The question will revolve around the size of the magazine, which is larger than other guns in its category, and whether people are comfortable with shooters potentially being able to fire eight rounds in eight seconds.
We ran a poll with our story online on Monday, asking whether readers agreed with Mr Donato that the level of gun crime would not be affected if the shotgun was restricted to professional shooters.
Sixty-four per cent agreed with Mr Donato and 36 per cent didn’t.
But none of this takes into account the requirements for a gun licence.
An applicant must be at least 18-years old, complete approved safety training and prove they have a genuine reason for owning firearms, whether it be target shooting, hunting or primary production.
A person must meet certain standards of character, which rule out anyone with a history of violence, illicit drug use, misuse of weapons or other criminal activities and police must conduct background checks.
Even once the licence is issued, if a person wants to buy a firearm, they must apply to police for a Permit to Acquire for each gun they want to own.
All sales must occur through a licensed dealer and firearms must be registered.
Guns must be stored in a safe and police do prosecute people if they fail to do so.
The problem is the people who get their hands on a gun illegally – Mr Donato said despite the onerous restrictions on permits, illegally-obtained handguns are the biggest culprits because they’re easy to conceal.
Regardless of what is decided about which guns people can acquire, the true challenge will be stomping out the illegal market.