Pm's Threat On Gun Control
The Age
Wednesday July 17, 1996
Canberra.
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, warned yesterday that the states could face a national referendum on gun control after 10 hours of talks failed to win backing from Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Howard last night gave the dissenters until Tuesday to abandon their support for the crimping of semi-automatic shotguns and fall into line with the Commonwealth and the other states.
He indicated that if they continued to refuse, he was prepared to call a national referendum to win support for the Federal Government's position.
The meeting of police ministers in Canberra dissolved last night with three remaining in favor of a severe form of crimping, or modifying, for self-loading and pump-action shotguns to reduce their firepower.
The ministers will take the issue to their Cabinets on Monday and report back to Mr Howard before a federal Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
``I hope that after Monday, through the cooperative processes, we will have achieved nationally uniform, tough, effective gun laws," Mr Howard said after the meeting.
He said Australia was ``nearing the moment of final truth" on gun laws.
``I acknowledge that a referendum is a possibility. I do not want to start speculating about the outcome, except to repeat what I said earlier, that the thing that cuts through to me above everything else in this whole debate is the passionate desire of all Australians of all walks of life across all party allegiances to have tough, effective national gun laws.
" Yesterday's meeting considered a proposal to allow shotguns to be ``remanufactured" as an alternative to crimping, which the Federal Government had already ruled out.
Although some states, including Victoria, were initially attracted to the proposal, all but the three eventually rejected it.
But in a small concession, the ministers agreed to exempt shooters in top-level competition from the national ban on semi-automatic weapons.
Mr Howard and the federal Attorney-General, Mr Daryl Williams, also pledged extra funding for the states to partly cover the cost of a national gun register.
At a news conference of all ministers last night, the three holding out refused to say whether their Governments would risk a national referendum.
The NT Chief Minister, Mr Shane Stone, said a referendum was clearly an option and indicated Mr Howard could win.
``I would take the view that the pulling on of a referendum by any state or territory would be both reckless and irresponsible and . . . all Australians, including territorians, would vote overwhelmingly for those national proposals," Mr Stone said.
GUN CONTROL.
Where it stands: * Federal Government rejects crimping of automatic weapons.
* Federal funds to be made available to the states for education and to establish a national gun register.
* Queensland, Western Australia and Northern Territory remain in favor of crimping.
* National referendum on handing responsibility for gun control to Canberra if some states allow crimping.
© 1996 The Age
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