ONE of Australia’s
most prominent pro-firearms organisations has called for Victorian Police
Minister Lisa Neville to resign in the wake of disgusting, offensive and
baseless comments implying licensed firearms owners were domestic violence
offenders.
Speaking at a
televised press conference yesterday morning, Ms Neville openly declared the
Victorian Government’s decision to halt the sale of ammunition and firearms
parts to recreational hunters and target shooters was due to concerns over the
potential for domestic violence incidents as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Shooters Union
Australia president Graham Park slammed the comments, calling them “quite
possibly the most offensive, disgusting, ignorant and dangerous thing I have
ever heard from a Government Minister”.
“I am simply
flabbergasted by the Minister’s delusional and appalling comments, and I cannot
believe she was allowed to air them unchecked.”
“Many law-abiding firearms owners are
themselves victims of domestic violence, so Ms Neville has succeeded only in
re-victimising and traumatising a vulnerable group for her own political ends,”
he said.
“It is clear that
someone with such clear disgust and disdain for the most law-abiding parts of
the Victorian community is not fit to be the Police Minister, and she should
apologise and resign immediately.”
Obtaining a
firearms licence is a time-consuming process with many background checks
undertaken – including checks related to domestic violence.
“Anyone who has a
firearms licence has proven themselves to be an upstanding, fit and proper
person in the community. They are the group least likely to be perpetrating
domestic violence,” Mr Park said.
“I cannot
reiterate strongly enough just how utterly disgusted we are with the Police
Minister’s insinuations. They are shameful and she should be ashamed of herself
for uttering them.”
Mr Park said the
fact gun stores were the only general retail outlet ordered to stop trading
with a particular group of customers was further proof the declarations had
nothing to do with public safety or domestic violence concerns.
“If Ms Neville is
so worried about domestic violence, why is Bunnings still open? They sell axes,
chainsaws, poison, and all manner of other dangerous items,” he said.
“What about places
selling kitchen knives? Camping stores selling knives? Sports stores selling
baseball bats? They’re still open and trading.
“Why are bottle
shops still trading? Everyone knows alcohol is a massive factor in domestic
violence incidents.”
Mr Park said the
Government’s statements proved the sales restrictions had nothing to do with ‘public safety’ or domestic violence and
everything to do with blatant, hateful and damaging discrimination.
“Substitute
‘hunters and recreational shooters’ for ‘the LGBTQI community’ or ‘black
people’ and see if the rationale Ms Neville provided is OK. And the answer is
no, because it’s not OK,” he said.
“We have said it
before and we will say it again: There is no public health risk involved in
letting licensed gun shops sell ammunition and parts to all licensed shooters,
not just primary producers.”
“Yes, there’s a
pandemic on, but that’s not an excuse to start pushing a discriminatory agenda
under the blatantly false cover of ‘public safety’.”
Mr Park said there
was also the very concerning fact the Victorian Government had apparently
just admitted it has no faith in the integrity of its own firearms licensing
system, despite having spent hundreds of
millions of dollars on the registry over the years.
“If they’ve admitted they can’t get that right,
what other serious public health and safety matters are they dropping the ball
on?,” he asked.
Mr Park said there was a strange idea among the
public that guns were readily available to anyone, when that could not be
further from the truth.
“I cannot make this any clearer: No-one, even with
a gun licence, can walk into a gun shop in Victoria, pick out a firearm, and
walk out the door with it right away,” he said.
“Buying a gun requires a licence – which requires
numerous police and background checks and takes several months to get – as well
as a police-issued permit for every additional gun the licence-holder wants to
get.
“There are already checks and balances in the
system to ensure unsuitable people do not legally acquire firearms.
“We fully support licensing and background checks
to make sure only upstanding, law-abiding people can buy firearms – but we will
not tolerate those upstanding, law-abiding people then being slandered by the
same Government responsible for issuing them a gun licence in the first place,”
he said.
CONTACT DETAILS:
President
Graham Park: president@shootersunion.com.au or 0418 700 320
Media
director Royce Wilson: media@shootersunion.com.au or 0410 645 035
