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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1395 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

the safety of the whole community and we believe that your views do not have a legitimate place in public debate", I think we would see, perhaps, a lessening of support for the gun lobbyists. The course of action they are taking is extremely dangerous, and I hope that it proves to be a bit of a flash in the pan.

I know that the gun lobbyists are basing their actions and their rhetoric on the American experience; but I think the attitudes, the history, the tradition and the culture in America are different from those in Australia, and it is my very real hope that this kind of lobbying activity will not gain political support anywhere in Australia. The gun lobbyists in the United States quite proudly state that they have changed the composition of Congress, that they have seen one elected representative after another lose their seats because they were in favour of increased gun legislation in the United States. We even saw overturned the ban on semiautomatic weapons in the United States, which had been implemented under the Clinton Administration early in its life, because of the political muscle of the gun lobby. I believe that the only answer to that kind of activity in Australia is to leave those people nowhere to go politically. I do hope that all parties in the Australian political landscape will have the courage to do just that and will not be tempted to get some support, a few cheap votes - cheap votes that may turn out to be very expensive indeed for the community - and go along with what the gun lobbyists are saying. That would be a disgrace. I think the attitude on guns in Australia has changed forever, and it is time the gun lobby woke up to that.

I have had a somewhat more temperate piece of correspondence from Mr Morris Tully, the president of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (ACT) Inc. Mr Tully has raised a possibility that I think deserves to be aired; but I do not think it is really achievable, at least in the short term. Mr Tully has said in his letter:

Dear Sir -

not a great start, but anyway -

The perceived problem with semi-automatic military-style rifles and shotguns (both semi-auto and pump) seems to be the magazine capacity. The ability of the user to fire multiple rounds without reloading seems to be the stated motivation for these firearms being banned.

I think he is right about that. Mr Tully then goes on to outline some suggested modifications for both the semiautomatic firearms and the .22 rim-fire semiautomatics and pump-action rifles. Briefly, the modifications involve altering the magazine block, in both cases, so that the rifles can shoot only a limited number of bullets rather than operate in their truly semiautomatic or automatic mode. This is a matter we really cannot act on at the moment. Mr Tully, in writing to me, has said:

We urge that you do not move precipitately in the ACT without considering this proposal.

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