Fransisco,
We think Canada our gun laws are 'extreme'...?
Mallee... is it this way where you are?
"Shoot-to-skill lessons
Heath Aston
July 17, 2011
THE Shooters and Fishers Party has won the support of the O'Farrell Government to increase shooting as a sport in schools.
The gun control lobby and even some in the Coalition see the minor party's long-held ambition to get more guns into the hands of children as the price the government must pay for the support of Shooters MPs, Robert Borsak and Robert Brown. It relies on the pair to get its legislation through a hostile upper house.
At the top of their wish list is the relaxation of the tight system for registering firearms and an end to the ban on hunting in national parks. But the Shooters also want to remove red tape so NSW's 650 public and independent high schools are free to choose shooting as a sport.
Only a handful of schools, mainly in country areas, teach children to shoot. Some Sydney private schools have their own rifle ranges.
Under pressure to deliver something for the Shooters, the Police Minister, Mike Gallacher, has opened the door.
''We are open to finding ways to support those schools that wish to offer shooting as part of their sports curriculum,'' his spokeswoman said.
Nonetheless, the Shooters and the government are on a collision course over a controversial bill introduced to Parliament. Children younger than 12 would be allowed to own and shoot high-powered air rifles for the first time under the Shooters' Firearms Legislation Amendment Bill.
The registration of air rifles - some of which can kill an animal in a single shot - would be scrapped and a requirement for children to buy a $100 ''minors' permit'' and complete a gun safety course would be abolished.
A child now has to be at least 12 to gain a permit. That restriction would be removed and children of all ages would be allowed to shoot with no more than parental permission.
Mr Borsak described the proposals as ''minor improvements to some of the unnecessary restrictions''.
The bill, if passed, would make NSW the most relaxed state in Australia in terms of gun control.
Labor, which was forced to negotiate with the Shooters when in government, believes parts of the bill would contravene John Howard's 1996 National Firearms Agreement, the former prime minister's treaty on guns that stemmed from the Port Arthur massacre.
Samantha Lee, head of the National Coalition for Gun Control, blasted the bill as an attempt to ''pedal firearms to young people that is no different to the way tobacco companies have targeted young smokers''.
''They are trying to get new recruits for the shooting fraternity by allowing kids to walk in off the street and straight into shooting a high-powered air rifle,'' Ms Lee said.
The Police Association said it was seeking meetings with Mr Borsak and Mr Brown. The Greens upper house MP David Shoebridge said it was a first step to ''introducing a gun culture'' to NSW. ''Most parents do not want their kids going from geography to maths to weapons training.''
Mr Brown said he was ''confident'' the government would support the bill after negotiations with Mr Gallacher and the National Party's Duncan Gay, the government's leader in the Legislative Council. But the government insisted yesterday that scrapping registration requirements was not an option. ''Barry wouldn't have it,'' a government source said.
The government is likely to support parts of the bill, including cutting red tape around owning antique hand guns.
Some acknowledge the Shooters will have to be accommodated over the next four years. ''The Shooters only have one agenda,'' said a government MP who did not wish to be named. ''They wave through anything the government wants and accumulate credit. But then they expect their agenda to be done.''
Mr Brown said: ''We've said time and again that they [the government] have the mandate to run the state. We're not going to stand in their way unless they screw around with our constituents: shooters, fisherman, hunters, four-wheel-drivers.''
Just days after the Shooters MPs voted through the Premier's public sector wages cap legislation, the government supported, with some amendments, the Shooters' bill for a 10-year moratorium on declaring new marine sanctuaries, large areas that lock out fishing. The axing of Catherine Cusack from the environment portfolio when Mr O'Farrell selected his cabinet was also seen as a gift to the Shooters.
Mr Brown said encouraging children younger than 12 to shoot air rifles was all about sport. He added: ''You don't produce [Olympic target shooting champion] Michael Diamonds by starting them at 18.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/shoottoskill-lessons-20110716-1hj5q.html#ixzz1SJjif3Ax
We think Canada our gun laws are 'extreme'...?
Mallee... is it this way where you are?
"Shoot-to-skill lessons
Heath Aston
July 17, 2011
THE Shooters and Fishers Party has won the support of the O'Farrell Government to increase shooting as a sport in schools.
The gun control lobby and even some in the Coalition see the minor party's long-held ambition to get more guns into the hands of children as the price the government must pay for the support of Shooters MPs, Robert Borsak and Robert Brown. It relies on the pair to get its legislation through a hostile upper house.
At the top of their wish list is the relaxation of the tight system for registering firearms and an end to the ban on hunting in national parks. But the Shooters also want to remove red tape so NSW's 650 public and independent high schools are free to choose shooting as a sport.
Only a handful of schools, mainly in country areas, teach children to shoot. Some Sydney private schools have their own rifle ranges.
Under pressure to deliver something for the Shooters, the Police Minister, Mike Gallacher, has opened the door.
''We are open to finding ways to support those schools that wish to offer shooting as part of their sports curriculum,'' his spokeswoman said.
Nonetheless, the Shooters and the government are on a collision course over a controversial bill introduced to Parliament. Children younger than 12 would be allowed to own and shoot high-powered air rifles for the first time under the Shooters' Firearms Legislation Amendment Bill.
The registration of air rifles - some of which can kill an animal in a single shot - would be scrapped and a requirement for children to buy a $100 ''minors' permit'' and complete a gun safety course would be abolished.
A child now has to be at least 12 to gain a permit. That restriction would be removed and children of all ages would be allowed to shoot with no more than parental permission.
Mr Borsak described the proposals as ''minor improvements to some of the unnecessary restrictions''.
The bill, if passed, would make NSW the most relaxed state in Australia in terms of gun control.
Labor, which was forced to negotiate with the Shooters when in government, believes parts of the bill would contravene John Howard's 1996 National Firearms Agreement, the former prime minister's treaty on guns that stemmed from the Port Arthur massacre.
Samantha Lee, head of the National Coalition for Gun Control, blasted the bill as an attempt to ''pedal firearms to young people that is no different to the way tobacco companies have targeted young smokers''.
''They are trying to get new recruits for the shooting fraternity by allowing kids to walk in off the street and straight into shooting a high-powered air rifle,'' Ms Lee said.
The Police Association said it was seeking meetings with Mr Borsak and Mr Brown. The Greens upper house MP David Shoebridge said it was a first step to ''introducing a gun culture'' to NSW. ''Most parents do not want their kids going from geography to maths to weapons training.''
Mr Brown said he was ''confident'' the government would support the bill after negotiations with Mr Gallacher and the National Party's Duncan Gay, the government's leader in the Legislative Council. But the government insisted yesterday that scrapping registration requirements was not an option. ''Barry wouldn't have it,'' a government source said.
The government is likely to support parts of the bill, including cutting red tape around owning antique hand guns.
Some acknowledge the Shooters will have to be accommodated over the next four years. ''The Shooters only have one agenda,'' said a government MP who did not wish to be named. ''They wave through anything the government wants and accumulate credit. But then they expect their agenda to be done.''
Mr Brown said: ''We've said time and again that they [the government] have the mandate to run the state. We're not going to stand in their way unless they screw around with our constituents: shooters, fisherman, hunters, four-wheel-drivers.''
Just days after the Shooters MPs voted through the Premier's public sector wages cap legislation, the government supported, with some amendments, the Shooters' bill for a 10-year moratorium on declaring new marine sanctuaries, large areas that lock out fishing. The axing of Catherine Cusack from the environment portfolio when Mr O'Farrell selected his cabinet was also seen as a gift to the Shooters.
Mr Brown said encouraging children younger than 12 to shoot air rifles was all about sport. He added: ''You don't produce [Olympic target shooting champion] Michael Diamonds by starting them at 18.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/shoottoskill-lessons-20110716-1hj5q.html#ixzz1SJjif3Ax
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