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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1472 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

There has been some problem with the ACT Weapons Registry. For some time, starting pistols were not required to be registered, as they were not considered to be weapons under the terms of the Act. Post-Winchester, however, there has been - understandably, perhaps - a change of attitude, and there is now some difficulty in having these starting pistols registered, or preferably having it acknowledged that they are not really weapons but starting pistols. They have been modified. The cylinders have been shortened. They cannot fire rounds. They can fire only blanks. That is the mode of the starting pistol that is needed for high-level events.

I will be taking up this matter with the relevant Minister - the Attorney-General or the Minister for Sport, who, I think, has also had an approach on this matter - to see whether a proper accommodation can be made for what is a very enthusiastic official in athletics events and, I believe, one who ought to be encouraged to carry on. I do not believe that there is a problem. I expect that it can be sorted out.

MS TUCKER (12.03): Mr Speaker, the Greens will be supporting this Bill, which gives the Minister explained in his introduction speech and a letter circulated earlier, this legislation, retrospective to 14 April, is necessary to prevent the ACT from being exposed to possible claims from firearms owners, not only from within the ACT but also from other States. Mr Speaker, gun law reform has perhaps been the only issue on which this Federal Government has displayed some real leadership. In the ACT alone, over 4,000 illegal weapons have been handed in as a result of the new laws. We still have further to go. As long as there are any gun deaths in this country, we should not rest on our laurels. In the ACT alone, it was reported that there were over 20,000 guns, I think. So, although there are now 4,000 of the most dangerous weapons out of our community, there are many more still around.

The ACT has, historically, been a leader as far as gun laws in Australia are concerned. I hope that we can continue to demonstrate leadership on this issue. Thank goodness we did not bow to pressure last year to water down the laws. It was interesting to read in the paper this week that a number of States are being criticised because they have watered down their legislation by providing loose interpretations of the "genuine reason" clause. This is exactly the sort of watering down that concerned the Greens last year. Thanks to a cooperative approach, I think the ACT can be proud that we came up with a much tighter definition of "genuine reasons" than that existing in some other States. It is not good enough to own a gun just because you want one to protect your family. I hope that we can all continue to work together to ensure that we have the toughest gun laws in the country.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (12.05): I may be aware of Mr Wood's constituent. I recall someone showing me something similar to what he talked about. I know that they were .455 Webleys. I thought it might have been a .38 Smith and Wesson, extensively modified so that it could not possibly shoot and for starting pistol purposes only.

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