Unqualified opinions

Those responsible for developing and administering our gun laws and policies don’t know what they are doing because they lack the qualifications and experience.  

Politicians and bureaucrats who have an influence on firearms laws or policy should have, at a minimum, hold a firearms licence. Otherwise what they say is guesswork. 

Bad information leads to bad policy, which leads to bad laws. Laws based on the wrong information will never be effective or equitable. 

A key cause of problems we have with our gun laws now is the absence of qualifications and experience of those who prepare policy advice for government. It is not helped by government and opposition members who might think they have a better state of knowledge than those who are properly qualified and experienced.

The problem this creates is an ignorance of the real legislative challenges, laws that target the wrong people and other missed opportunities that would benefit the broader community.

Portfolio ministers and every bureaucrat involved in the development of firearm policy or administration of firearm laws need to know what they are doing. Our position means that:

• Those in charge of policy development and overseeing the administration of our gun laws, will need to hold a minimum of a firearms licence and five years’ relevant experience;
• Portfolio MPs who do not hold the same knowledge need to invest in statutory consultative forums which have the minimum qualifications and experience;
• Laws relating to the regulation of the shooting and security industries need to be separated from laws relating to criminal activities. For most states it means splitting their firearms legislation into two acts – one covering lawful activities and the other covering unlawful activities. This ensures that the focus on legitimate shooters can never be confused with those engaged in criminal activities.