Gun Owners in Labor’s Crosshairs
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur has called on Police Minister Lisa Neville to apologise to law-abiding firearm owners for targeting them with threats of licence revocation.
A recent email to the firearms industry by the Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD) of Victoria Police, announced that “should a [firearms] licence holder blatantly and deliberately breach the CHO’s restrictions, your licence can be suspended, cancelled or may be subject to a reprimand which could harm any future licensing”.
Mrs McArthur said, “This is an outrageous and uncalled-for attack on a responsible section of the community. Threatening harsher penalties for gun owners than the rest of the Victorian population is a new form of Labor Government discrimination.”
“When Labor needs a scapegoat or a sacrificial lamb for their political objectives, they first look towards firearm owners - just as they did in the first wave when they banned the sale of firearms and ammunition to appease inner-city fears over apocalyptic looting.”
“The Police Minister clearly thinks that if someone in country Victoria forgets to wear a mask, then they are somehow too irresponsible to own a firearm.”
“The penalties for breaching restrictions should be equal for all Victorians, not tougher on some and weaker on others.”
“Does the Government plan on taking away boating, plumbing and liquor licences as well, or won’t that win any votes inside the tram tracks while a tough approach on gun owners might?”
“The Minister should apologise and clarify that the penalties for gun owners will be the same as for all Victorians.”
Mrs McArthur intends on raising the matter with the Minister in Parliament this week.
31 August 2020