In a move that will not only victimise legitimate Firearms license holders the O'Farrell government plans to introduce a Bill into Parliament that will restrict the sale of ammunition to Rifles and Calibres to those you already posses. This is in response to the outcry to curb recent gang related shooting in Sydney and Sydney's West. The Question we as Firearms Dealers, License Holders, Sporting Shooters members, Target Club members and all other Firearms associates is.. Will this actually to anything to stop these shooting? The answer is absolutely NOT. This is a plain knee jerk way politicians think they can sweep a problem they can not contain under the rug, by finding a scape-goat in the law abiding citizens who own legitimate, registered firearms in NSW! We need to petition against this proposed Bill as not only will it mean that you cant purchase ammunition for your mate or a family member but it means you must carry your disposal forms with you whenever you travel to your nearest Firearms Dealer to purchase ammunition. He/She must then record every box you purchase and keep that record. A practice that has already been trialled in Victoria and FAILED miserably! Mountains of Paperwork doesn't stop unregistered gun crimes!! The key lays in finding where these guns are coming from and punishing those responsible. We need to let the Government know that this Bill is absolutely absurd!. It isn't registered rifles or pistols being used in these shootings. Its the illegal imports, the home made firearms and pre-amnesty unregistered firearms that are causing these problems. Why should we be victimised?? I don't even think the politicians have an answer to that!! This is an extract from the proposed Bill: "The purchaser will now be required to be the registered owner of, or hold a permit to acquire, a firearm that takes the ammunition. The firearms dealer will be required to sight the purchasers notice of registration or permit to acquire at the time the ammunition was purchased" "Schedule 1 [1] requires a licensed firearms dealer to keep records of ammunition sales and purchases by the dealer. The new requirement parallels existing requirements for the keeping of records of transactions involving firearms and firearms parts" Essentially meaning the mountain of paperwork that a dealer is required to complete will be doubled. For absolutely no benefit! Is the government so naive and deluded that they actually believe that license firearms holders purchase substantially enough ammunition to supply the illegal firearms trade? Registered Firearms Theft is in fact falling and has fallen over the last decade, despite the dribble and flawed figures reported by the Greens. The highest cause of homicide is due to stabbing and knife related assaults. Maybe we should be looking to have a license to own a knife?? Makes more sense than vilifying Australian Firearms license holders.. Please pass this petition onto everyone who you believe will be affected by this Bill. Help protect Australia's already tight firearms laws by making it known to the Australian Government that the problem is not Registered Firearms holders! We have been made scape goats for too long and they need to take real action, pull their heads out of the sand and do more to stop the illegal firearms coming into Australia. That's the only way to solve the problem they are facing.

Links