Adler: What’s next?
As you will be aware, COAG has approved the reclassification of the Alder shotgun from A, to B for the five shot version, and D for those capable of carrying more than five shots.
That will put the 7 shot version in the same category as the AR-15, which is as ludicrous as it sounds.
What is not known at this time is whether shooters affected by this decision will be offered compensation, or simply have to forfeit them.
Another confiscation
This will be the third nationwide confiscation in 20 years.
The first was for our semi-autos in 96, the second being the restrictions on handguns in 2003 and now lever action shotguns.
It means taking the gun you love using away from you. It could means handing in that handcrafted gun that your dad handed down to you.
All to go into the crusher.
- It’s sad.
- It’s unnecessary.
- It won’t be the last time someone tries to take our guns off us.
The next fight
Those opposed to firearm use will never give up on us. People like Derryn Hinch, Samantha Lee, John Howard and many others.
While we may have lost this fight, it is a timely reminder to all shooters – including those who were too young to feel the impacts of 1996 and 2003 – of what can happen.
Importantly, what will it be?
- Lever-action rifles?
- A ban on 10 shot mags?
- Prohibiting telescopes on hunting rifles?
Imagine if the government decided to prohibit anyone under 18 from being able to handle a firearm?
If any of these sound a bit farfetched, then so does banning our lever actions; the same type of firearm used by John Wayne.
What you can do
As a community, we do have an opportunity to fix this. It won’t be easy, but it can be done.
We have a working group on this convening in the next few days. We’ve also got a meeting of our member shooting organisations in January where we’ll be tackling this, and other issues which are likely to dominate the agenda for 2017.
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