The NFA changes are dead: our lever actions are safe
The Federal Government has announced there will be no changes to the National Firearms Agreement.
Yep, the deal is dead. Our lever actions are safe.
Federal Justice Minister Mike Keenan delivered the news earlier today in Brisbane. Click here to read more on this story.
Minister Keenan said there are no longer any plans to change the Agreement, but did say that an amnesty of some sort (no doubt voluntary) may still be in the winds.
His statement is in direct defiance of former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard (pictured above) who said our current gun laws were inadequate and needed further tightening, (note for overseas readers: our current government is also Liberal, so the decision flies in the face of what his own party did to Australian shooters in 1996)
It’s an important win in an important year for Aussie shooters
The backdown represents a win in one of the key challenges we identified for 2016 at our industry forum in February.
It comes days before the 20th anniversary of the Port Arthur shootings, which the anti-gun movement has been using to try to push for tighter gun laws. Fortunately the fact the antis lost this round will make their job tougher.
You should congratulate yourself on this win
The result is the outcome of efforts by many people, including people like yourself who took the time to let our politicians know that further restrictions were ‘not on’. Thank you to everyone who wrote, called and emailed our politicians, as it shows what can be done with a coordinated approach.
Others who played a big part, according to one leading industry expert, includes the National Party which stood up to its larger coalition partner in Canberra, and Katter’s Australia Party for securing the position adopted by the Queensland Government.
2016 has already been a long year for us, with fights with Victoria Police over our new regulations, the anniversary of Port Arthur and the federal election yet to come.
We’ve still got a long road ahead of us, but its still an important win for us. Stay tuned because we might have some more good news for you in the next few days.