I WRITE in response to Susan Cruttenden’s letter (‘Give Kids a Chance’, Bay Post, August 22) and would like to correct one point she has made.
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Claiming that the Shooters and Fishers Party want to “relax gun laws” is incredibly misleading.
What we have consistently called for is more effective gun laws that target and appropriately punish criminals who use firearms in the commission of a crime instead of further restricting law abiding firearm owners.
That’s why the Shooters and Fishers Party introduced a Bill to the NSW Parliament more than two years ago, calling for mandatory sentencing for anyone convicted of using a firearm in a serious crime.
Unfortunately, despite their tough on crime talk, neither the Liberals, Labor or Greens Party have shown any support.
The current system is broken. NSW firearm laws unfairly target law abiding firearm owners, while allowing criminals to escape with manifestly inadequate sentences time and again.
I would encourage Ms Cruttenden to look at some of the recent media coverage from Canada where, in 2013, the government abolished their firearms registry and have instead re-invested hundreds of millions of dollars into crime prevention with encouraging results.
Police officers in the Eurobodalla spend hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours each year reporting on law abiding firearm owners who have already passed a police background check, and then hundreds more on the subsequent paperwork that goes with Government bureaucracy.
Surely Ms Cruttenden would concede these resources could be better spent going after criminals?
If Ms Cruttenden sincerely wants to protect young people, let’s do something about getting illegal firearms off the street and out of our communities, rather than attacking the doctors, teachers, school students, bus drivers, small business owners and many others who make up the community of law abiding firearm owners in the Eurobodalla.
Finally, it was wonderful to meet and speak with so many people at HuntFest this year.
I would like to congratulate the organisers of the event and all of the Narooma businesses who warmly welcomed all the visitors to their town.
Robert Borsak, MLC
Shooters and Fishers Party
