Page 2767 - Week 07 - Thursday, 3 July 2008
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MR SPEAKER: It might have been, in hindsight.
Mr Stefaniak: Obviously Mr Corbell has the numbers; I can count.
MR SPEAKER: The debate is not a matter of convenience; it is a matter of getting through it.
Mr Stefaniak: I note what you are saying.
MR SPEAKER: I have ruled.
Mr Stefaniak: It is quite clear that Mr Mulcahy and I support mine; Mr Corbell and Dr Foskey support his. If you are ruling in that way, Mr Speaker, I accept your ruling. Mr Corbell’s amendment stands. I refer back to what I said when discussing his amendment.
MR SPEAKER: I have already ruled on it. Sit down, please.
Clause 24, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 25.
MR STEFANIAK (Ginninderra) (6.32): I move amendment No 3 circulated in my name [see schedule 4 at page 2791].
The bill provides, and the attorney referred to it in his speech, that the registrar shall issue permits to acquire second and subsequent firearms before 28 days after the date of the permit application. I would say that that is an inefficiency and a layer of bureaucracy that is unnecessary for the safe management and regulation of firearms in the ACT. A person is not permitted to apply for a permit to acquire unless the person is the holder of a licence. In securing a licence, they have to jump through all the hoops, run the gauntlet of police checks and all the identification that is required and so on. By the time the licence is issued, the registrar is well aware of the licence holder’s eligibility to hold the licence.
So when they come to the point of wishing to acquire additional firearms they should be able to make the application for a permit to acquire and be issued with a permit almost as an over-the-counter arrangement. They should not have to front up to the registrar, lodge their application and then have the door slammed shut in their face for nearly a month. The opportunity to acquire might be lost in that time. If people are involved in sporting competitions, there can be some real problems there.
Other jurisdictions have, I am advised, recognised this situation. Victoria, I am also advised, has some of the toughest firearms legislation in the country, given that we do have a national scheme. With any national scheme, there are regional differences, as we are seeing a few more emerge tonight. They are the toughest in the country, though, I am told.
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