Reject changes to firearms legislation without proper consultation

The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council the Victorian Government’s decision to undertake a review of Victoria’s firearm laws which is to be conducted by former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner, Mr Ken Lay AO APM. Public pressure to act quickly may result in rushed or ineffective decisions. Victoria already has some of the strictest firearm laws in the nation and serious incidents have consistently involved failures in intelligence, monitoring or enforcement, often where individuals were already known to authorities, rather than gaps in legislation. Ideologically driven or hasty changes risk unfairly penalising responsible, law-abiding firearm owners without improving public safety or reducing the risk of terrorism or serious crime.

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to commit to enforcing existing firearm laws, including identifying gaps in compliance, enforcement and resourcing, ensure that the review of legislation is evidence-led and without a pre-determined assumption that further restrictions on lawful owners are required, reject any new firearm regulations unless there is clear, publicly available evidence that it will improve public safety, guarantee genuine consultation with law-abiding firearm owners, sporting and hunting organisations before any policy or legislative changes are drafted and ensure the review separates law-abiding firearms owners from acts of terror so the response is fair and proportionate.