What’s wrong with our registry?
We all know why shooters don’t like the policy underlying firearm regulation. However we were curious why shooters felt so strongly that the body charged with administering that policy was a poor performer.
One in two shooters said the registry should be scrapped: only one in five said it should be retained.
After all, we don’t like having to pay a lot more in annual rego fees to VicRoads, but we don’t blame them for poor performance, so why is it that our firearms registry is such a ‘stand out’?
There were many helpful responses: here’s one we thought was worth echoing:
The registry in its current state isn’t that bad, it just adds another few days to your decision process of buying a new firearm. However its upkeep cost out weight the benefits, that’s why I’d like to see it scrapped.
Then there was this comment we received from the many posted on this website:
The registry is the only thing stopping a licensed shooter selling a gun to an unlicensed shooter. The registry should stay but category restrictions and license renewals should go.
We were also interested in the fact the police, rather than the minister responsible for the policies they enforce, does the talking. A clear cut example was the commentary by Victoria Police suggesting the Adler A-110 shotgun should banned. That’s a policy statement which should be made by the Minister!
Why is it the Police are commenting on firearm policy when that’s the Minister’s job? In fact do you know who the responsible Minister is?
We decided to set up a follow-up survey to find out a bit more about what you think about the registry’s performance and behaviour.
Make sure you share this with your shooting colleagues. The poll will close at 6pm Sunday 12 July. We’ll then put the results to the government so we can start the discussion.