news, local-news, tasmania, gun laws, election, 2018, advice, gun control

Gun Control Australia claims the Liberal Party's attempt to "water down" Tasmania's gun laws on the eve of the election without advice from Tasmania Police was evidence of the control the gun lobby still has over politics in the state. GCA attempted to obtain the advice given to Premier Will Hodgman by then Police Minister Rene Hidding through right to information, but was unsuccessful as the documents were simply emails between the two offices determined to be part of the Liberal Party election campaign. At the time, Mr Hodgman had claimed the advice showed how the proposed changes would not breach the National Firearms Act. It was evident that Tasmania Police had not reviewed the policy. More on the gun law debate: GCA vice president Roland Browne said had the proposed changes not been made public before the election, the government would have had four years to develop their plans. "They would have had four years to soften the public up for why we need to go back to semi-automatic rifles," he said. "It didn't matter if these policies are electorally unwise - they got caught out making a promise to the shooters' group, and if that hadn't come to light then they would be pursuing this. "These changes are not dead in the water, they will never be dead in the water, the gun lobby will keep pushing this as they have been since 1996." The government abandoned the proposal - which included extending the duration of Category A and B firearms licences from five years to 10, and from one year to two for Category C - in August after acknowledging the community's "deeply held concerns". A parliamentary committee is considering the state's firearms laws. In a statement, a government spokesperson said it would consider the findings, once the inquiry was completed. "Tasmania's firearms laws are among the toughest in the world and that is how they will remain," the spokesperson said. "As we have continually said, the government will not do anything to undermine the National Firearms Agreement or to weaken our gun laws in any way. "RTI decisions are made at arm's length by a delegated officer. "Of course, we can't and don't take advice from departments on policy matters during caretaker."

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