Page 791 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 March 1991
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Assembly the sort of nonsense that has been put about the community, I trust that in the detail stage he will be well and truly nailed on each nonsensical point.
Mr Speaker, this legislation is good legislation and it deserves to be supported on its merits. What has been put about in the community on this legislation, by certain ill-motivated individuals, reflects poorly on those individuals, and if it were to be widely supported in the community it would reflect poorly on the community. But I am convinced that those members of the ACT community who do engage in the sport of shooting will, in fact, by and large, when they have been reassured about what is in this legislation, be quite supportive of it and that this legislation will be very successful. The attempt to stir up the community and terrify people into some sort of violent opposition to this legislation is highly irresponsible and shameful, and it deserves the condemnation of all right thinking members of this Assembly and of the community.
MS MAHER (9.17): Mr Speaker, I support the comments that Mr Connolly has just made. The Weapons Bill seeks not only to reduce the number of unnecessary firearms in the community, but also to state, in clear terms, for the benefit of potential gun owners and the licensing authority, the circumstances under which persons who perceive that they have a legitimate need for a firearm may acquire, possess and use that firearm.
Under the present Act the registrar, subject to police check, has little basis on which to deny an applicant a licence. In other words, an applicant need not have any particular reason for requiring a firearm. The Bill before the Assembly will overcome this by ensuring that the applicant establishes one of the approved reasons specified in the Bill before becoming entitled to a licence. Consequently, current licensees who have firearms for no particular purpose will, on renewal of their licence, need to do what is required to retain a firearm, such as joining an approved club, or else surrender the firearm.
Mr Speaker, members will be aware of the community debate about the protection afforded to people who find themselves in threatening domestic situations. The Alliance Government is committed to doing whatever it reasonably can to ensure the protection of such persons. Through my research on domestic violence, statistics show that, taking into consideration the overall number of domestic violence cases, the percentage of cases actually involving firearms is relatively small. However, as reported in a 1986 publication, in New South Wales, out of 217 spouse killings, 121, or 40.9 per cent, were shot. That is about half. The next highest figure relates to stabbings, which was 75, or 25 per cent. But, Mr Speaker, no matter how small the numbers or percentages are, I consider one death too many.
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